Data Services

To maximise the accuracy of your campaign, and to keep within the law, databases must be regularly cleaned. We provide a host of cleaning services for you:-

Business Suppression File
- The Business Suppression File (BSF) file is compiled by REaD and contains a list of businesses that are known to have either ceased trading or have moved from their current location. Most mailers complain about a lack of response. If you remove the records that would never reach their destination, then you will not only save costs but ultimately increase your response rates.
Deduplication
- How many times have you received two identical mail pieces from the same company? The Database Manager removes duplicate entries from your data ensuring that addressee or company names which have been duplicated (even if the spelling differs between duplicated records) are highlighted. Deduplication can be done at various levels:
  - Household – one envelope per address
  - Surname – one envelope to a surname
  - Exact name – one envelope per person
  - Company – one envelope per company
Gone away
- Databases can quickly become out of date because of the movement of people between properties. The Gone Away Suppression (GAS) file is compiled by The REaD Group and incorporates the vast majority of the UK’s home-mover information.
- Most mailers complain about a lack of response. If you remove the records that would never reach their destination, then you will not only save costs but ultimately increase your response rates.
Mailsort
- The Royal Mail and Downstream Access Providers (DSA) provides preferential pricing (up to 30% reduction) on bulk mailing if licensed users are able to accurately pre-sort large volumes of mail into postcode batches hence reducing the Royal Mail workload.
- Discount is dependent on volume, weight, time-scale and also the accuracy of the postcode data.
Mortality
- The most distressing thing a direct mailing can do is to mail to a person who is deceased. There are a number of things that can be done:
- The Mortality File: The Mortascreen file, now the largest deceased suppression file available. The file includes a range of new data sources, including information previously directed to The Deceased Register. The file includes probate records, obituary notices, Royal Mail returns marked deceased plus data from freepost cards issued at local Register Offices.
- Mortascreen Plus: Mortascreen Plus is a sub-set of the Mortascreen file collated by Smee & Ford from information supplied by the probate systems of England, Wales and Scotland. It is designed to identify only those deceased records for which guaranteed verification can be supplied.
- The Bereavement Register (TBR): Compiled from information volunteered by the family and friends of recently deceased, The Bereavement Register is managed and distributed by the REaD Group.
National change of address file
- Home movers are identified on the Royal Mail National Change of Address (NCOA) file. NCOA contains data as far back as 1993. It is updated monthly by the Royal Mail Redirection Service. It can be used to provide a forwarding address or a gone away flag.
National Suppression file
- The National Suppression File (NSF) is regarded as the definitive resource for gone away data by the DMA. The data is sourced from the Royal Mail National Change of Address (NCOA) file, the Gone away Suppression File (GSF), Electoral Roll changes and credible postal return resources. The data helps reduce mailing inaccuracies by removing details of home movers and non-responders.
Postcode Address File (PAF)