Geospatial pioneer Ordnance Survey selects Diffusion

Ordnance Survey (OS), Britain’s national mapping service and a global leader in geospatial services, has appointed Diffusion as its Corporate & B2B PR agency following a competitive pitch process.

Diffusion’s remit will focus on reinforcing OS’s position as a leader in location data and technology, building awareness of its role in driving sustainable growth, innovation and resilience across the UK. The partnership will spotlight the essential role that OS data plays in delivering solutions to major national challenges, from urban development, energy and communications infrastructure to environmental resilience in the face of climate change.

Diffusion will be responsible for delivering a thought leadership and executive profile-raising comms programme for the organisation’s senior leadership team, including its CEO Nick Bolton who joined OS in 2023.

Ordnance Survey, commented: “Ordnance Survey’s data underpins critical decisions made by businesses every day, empowering them to manage risk and act with greater speed, insight, and commercial impact. To tell that story effectively, we needed an agency with more than just a passion for maps and numbers, but with the creativity and media nous to locate the real-life stories often hidden in the data. Diffusion demonstrated exactly that, with a deep understanding of how location shapes the world around us.”

“Diffusion’s comms strategy cleverly mapped our commercial objectives to the business and policy issues set to dominate boardrooms and newsrooms alike in the years ahead. Together, we’re focused on delivering the detailed insights that OS is uniquely positioned to provide and help inform vital national debates – from where we live and source our energy, to how we protect communities in the face of a changing climate.”

Ivana Farthing, Head of Science & Innovation Practice at Diffusion, commented: “From creating national mapping standards to unlocking location-based decision-making for business and government, Ordnance Survey hasn’t just shaped the geospatial landscape, it created it. For Diffusion, OS is an iconic brand, but beyond the deep heritage, being part of OS’s future at the cutting edge of data science and innovation is what excites us most. Whether it’s the transformative impact of AI on analysis, or how data can be made more accessible to innovators and policy makers, we cannot wait to place OS and its experts in their rightful place at the forefront of the debate.”