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Across England and Wales, GeoPlace is proud to support a vibrant, highly skilled and collaborative community of street and addressing professionals. Every year, GeoPlace recognises individuals whose dedication, professionalism and generosity have made a lasting impact — within their own authorities, across their regions, and throughout the wider sector.
At the 2026 GeoPlace Conference in Leicester, two exceptional members of the community were recognised for their outstanding contributions: Samantha Eastwood received the 2026 Peer Award, while Martin Laker was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Peer Award
The Peer Award is unique because it is rooted in recognition from within the Custodian community itself: the unseen powerhouse behind much of the critical data management work taking place across local authorities in England and Wales.
Samantha Eastwood was nominated by peers who described her as the “Yoda” of the Khub community, reflecting both the depth of her knowledge and her long-standing commitment to supporting others. With more than 1,100 posts shared over many years, Sam is widely known for responding quickly to queries, offering practical advice and helping colleagues navigate challenges with confidence and good humour. Her willingness to share expertise has helped foster a collaborative and supportive professional community where knowledge and good practice are openly exchanged.
Sam’s award reflects the value placed on trusted colleagues who strengthen the Custodian network through professionalism, generosity and enthusiasm for sharing the value of location data. Her nomination also highlights the collaborative nature of the sector itself, where high-quality address and street data depends on people who are willing to share knowledge, support good practice and help colleagues work with confidence.
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Alongside the Peer Award, GeoPlace also recognised an extraordinary long-term contribution to the sector by presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Martin Laker.
The GeoPlace Lifetime Achievement Award is rarely presented, and Martin is only the third person to receive it in 21 years. The award recognises an exceptional level of commitment to work that has helped shape, strengthen and support the nation’s street and address gazetteers over many years.
Martin’s contribution has been felt across many areas of the Custodian community. As Chair of the Data Entry Conventions Working Group for more than a decade, he led the major overhaul from version 3.6 to version 4.1, delivering significant usability improvements and clearer conventions for Custodians across England and Wales.
His influence has also been deeply practical. Martin has worked extensively with Gazetteer Management System suppliers to test and resolve software issues before wider roll-outs, helping to improve confidence, consistency and reliability for local authorities. At the same time, the data submitted under his own stewardship has consistently been recognised for its exceptional quality.
Martin has also provided sustained leadership and support across the South West, serving as Deputy Regional Chair and offering practical guidance that colleagues have long valued. He has become widely respected as the community’s expert on legal matters relating to Street Naming and Numbering and the National Street Gazetteer, sharing knowledge built through extensive real-world experience.
At this year’s conference, Martin led a roundtable session titled ‘Street Naming in the Dock’, drawing on his own experience of defending a street naming decision through legal challenge. The session explored how authorities can navigate legal scrutiny, understand precedent and avoid disputes escalating to court.
Nick Chapallaz said:
“These awards recognise the people behind the data — the individuals whose expertise, professionalism and generosity help sustain such a strong and collaborative community.
Sam’s Peer Award reflects the respect of colleagues and the importance of shared knowledge and support across the Custodian network. Martin’s Lifetime Achievement Award recognises decades of contribution that have helped shape the way the sector works, bringing clarity, rigour and practical leadership to some of the most complex aspects of address and street data management.Both awards remind us that excellent address and street data is created and curated by people who care deeply about their work, their colleagues and the better outcomes that accurate information about place can help deliver.”
Notes:
GeoPlace’s Exemplar Awards
GeoPlace’s Exemplar Awards are awarded every year to highlight the roles that Custodians play within their authorities. These awards enable that work to be more widely promoted to all parts of the organisation. It spotlights the high standard of local address and street data and shows how it underpins efficient, effective services.
From transformation projects to essential system improvements, the awards showcase innovation at every scale – all rooted in the thoughtful, accurate curation of location data. Promoting this work helps highlight not only the importance of these datasets, but also the pivotal role played by Street, Addressing and Street Naming and Numbering Custodians in delivering better outcomes for communities.
GeoPlace’s awards highlight the work in curating and maintaining that data. Promoting this work helps to highlight the importance of the Custodians’ role, and the potential for this data to deliver ever-more efficient and effective services for communities.
About GeoPlace
GeoPlace LLP is a public sector limited liability partnership between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Ordnance Survey.2
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 16 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 – from planning permission or street naming through to demolition.
See https://www.geoplace.co.uk.
