THE UK Government has appointed Colin Hughes as the new Chair of Ordnance Survey.
Hughes will remain in his current position as CEO of AQA while taking on his new role as Ordnance Survey Chair from March 9.
He previously held senior leadership positions in the education, publishing and media sectors, including Managing Director of Collins Learning for eight years. Before this, he founded Learnthings Ltd (the Guardian’s digital learning business) in 2000, and was appointed Managing Director of Guardian Professional in 2006.
Prior to that, he worked as a journalist for the Press Association and The Times, before moving to the Independent, where he was Managing and Deputy Editor.
He has also held chair positions with the Education Publishers Council from 2014 to 2018, and chaired Middlesex University for eight years and is currently Chair of Staffordshire University.
The current OS chair – Stephen Lake – will step down at the end of his final term, having served since 2021 and as non-executive director on the board since 2014.
“I’m hugely excited to be joining the Board of Ordnance Survey at this moment of great opportunity for one of the UK’s most dynamic organisations,” Hughes said.
“OS has incomparable potential for innovating in digital and data to support growth and gain in our society and economy, and it will be a privilege to support Nick Bolton and his team in realising their plans to maximise that value.”
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, was one of the Westminster figures to applaud the appointment.
“My congratulations to Colin Hughes on his appointment as Chair of Ordnance Survey,” she said.
“Drawing on Colin’s vast leadership experience, Ordnance Survey will continue to play an important role in re-imagining the way we use location data to improve public services, support businesses, and unlock economic growth as part of our Plan for Change.”
Her good wishes were echoed by the organisation’s Chief Executive, Nick Bolton.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Colin as the new Chair of Ordnance Survey,” he added.
“This is an exciting time for us, and Colin’s experience in digital transformation, along with his vision and expertise, will be invaluable as we continue to achieve our strategic goals and deliver exceptional value to our customers and the country more broadly.
“I would also like to extend my thanks to Stephen Lake, who is leaving the OS Board after 10 years. Stephen has contributed much through a period of significant change for the organisation and leaves us in a stronger position.”
What is Ordnance Survey?
Formed some 234 years ago, The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain.
The agency’s name indicates its original military purpose, which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. Since April 2015, the Ordnance Survey has operated as Ordnance Survey Ltd – a government-owned company, 100% in public ownership.
The Ordnance Survey Board remains accountable to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Paper maps represent only 5% of the company’s annual revenue. It produces digital map data, online route planning and sharing services and mobile apps, plus many other location-based products for business, government and consumers.
Ordnance Survey mapping is usually classified as either “large-scale” (more detailed) or “small-scale”. The Survey’s large-scale mapping comprises 1:2,500 maps for urban areas and 1:10,000 more generally. (The latter superseded the 1:10,560 “six inches to the mile” scale in the 1950s.)
These large scale maps are typically used in professional land-use contexts and were available as sheets until the 1980s, when they were digitised. Small-scale mapping for leisure use includes the 1:25,000 “Explorer” series, the 1:50,000 “Landranger” series and the 1:250,000 road maps. These are still available in traditional sheet form.
Ordnance Survey maps remain in copyright for 50 years after their publication. Some of the copyright libraries hold complete or near-complete collections of pre-digital OS mapping.
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