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Across England and Wales, GeoPlace is proud to support a vibrant and collaborative community of street and addressing professionals. Every year, we invite this community to nominate individuals whose dedication, insight and generosity have made a lasting impact – not just in their own authority, but across the wider sector.
The Peer Award
The 2025 Peers Award has been presented to Rachel Antcliffe, Principal LLPG Officer, Leeds City Council.
Rachel was nominated for her longstanding dedication to the custodians’ community – and in particular for her support of colleagues through her leadership roles and day-to-day involvement. As the Address Chair for Yorkshire and Humberside, and now recently stepping up to an interim role national role of Chair of Chairs, Rachel’s contribution is widely felt.
Rachel also maintains an active and valued presence on the Knowledge Hub, always ready to offer advice, raise important issues, and ensure regional voices are heard.
This award recognises not only her individual commitment but also the trust and respect she has earned from peers across the country. Rachel’s ability to combine strategic leadership with hands-on support – while also maintaining the very highest level of quality, the Platinum standard, for addressing at Leeds City Council over many years – is a testament to her professionalism and integrity.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The GeoPlace Lifetime Achievement Award marks an extraordinary level of commitment to formative work that has helped to develop the nation's street and address gazetteers over a period of many years.
The Award was presented to Cathy Coelho from Oxford City Council and Principal Chair of the DCA Regional Address Group. Cathy has been a champion of address and street data and all the other roles that great Custodians undertake on a daily basis. Her contributions to the Regional Chairs Group have always been invaluable, putting the needs of local authorities first and challenging decisions wherever necessary. This is combined with her thoughtful, consistent and strong leadership on ACE over the years, which has required a pragmatic, fair approach.
Nick Chapallaz, Managing Director of GeoPlace said:
“Each year, it’s a real pleasure to shine a light on the exceptional work being carried out by Street and Address Custodians, and by the many champions across our addressing community. I’m thrilled to present this award to Rachel Antcliffe — being recognised by your peers in this way is a truly special achievement.
This year, I’m also honoured to announce a special award for Cathy Coelho, in recognition of her many years of dedicated service to the Gazetteers community. Cathy’s contribution has been immense, and the improvements she has driven will support and shape our work for many years to come.
We owe Cathy a deep debt of gratitude. Her wise counsel and expertise will be greatly missed. This award is a small token of our appreciation for everything she has done for local government and the wider community. Thank you, Cathy.”
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About GeoPlace
GeoPlace LLP is a public sector limited liability partnership between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Ordnance Survey.
GeoPlace is a world class expert in address and street information management, working internationally as well as in the UK to help our partners and customers maximise the value of their spatial information for better decision making.
GeoPlace maintains a national infrastructure that supports the address and street information needs of the public and private sectors. Its work relies heavily on close working relationships with every local authority in England and Wales. This relationship has been developed over 15 years, to build the National Address Gazetteer infrastructure and National Street Gazetteer. Ordnance Survey develops the range of AddressBase products from the National Address Gazetteer and OS MasterMap Highways Network from the NSG. Both datasets underpin efficient and effective services, bringing direct service delivery benefits to users.
The Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and the Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) are the unique identifiers for every addressable location and street in Great Britain. They are created by local authorities who have the statutory authority to name and number every street and property and Ordnance Survey who identify objects on the landscape which may otherwise not attract an address.
These unique reference numbers link datasets together and share information with other organisations who also use them. They provide a comprehensive, complete and consistent identifier throughout a property's life cycle â from planning permission or street naming through to demolition.
