Special postcodes
2011-04-06
Postcodes are usually allocated solely for logistical convenience, however there are a few informal exceptions.
Britain's constitutional hierarchy is unofficially reflected in the ordering of the following three postcodes:
| Postcode | Location |
|---|---|
| SW1A 0AA | House of Commons (pre-eminent democratic chamber; see table below for House of Lords) |
| SW1A 1AA | Buckingham Palace (official residence of head of state) |
| SW1A 2AA | 10 Downing Street (official residence of head of government) |
Organisations which receive enough post to justify having a dedicated postcode also, in a small proportion of cases, have their organisation name reflected in the last part of the code. Prominent examples include:
| Postcode | Organisation |
|---|---|
| BS98 1TL | TV Licensing |
| BX1 1LT | Lloyds TSB Bank (non-geographic address) |
| BX3 2BB | Barclays Bank (non-geographic address) |
| BX5 5AT | VAT Central Unit of HM Revenue and Customs (non-geographic address). 5 is roman numeral "V", so 5AT = VAT. |
| CF99 1NA | National Assembly for Wales |
| DE99 3GG | Egg Banking |
| DH98 1BT | British Telecom |
| DH99 1NS | National Savings certificates administration |
| E16 1XL | ExCeL London |
| N1 9GU | GUardian newspaper |
| E98 1NW | News of the World newspaper |
| E98 1SN | The Sun newspaper |
| E98 1ST | The Sunday Times newspaper |
| E98 1TT | The Times newspaper |
| EC2N 2DB | Deutsche Bank |
| EC4Y 0HQ | Royal Mail Group Ltd headquarters (relocated from EC1V 9HQ) |
| EH99 1SP | Scottish Parliament |
| G58 1SB | National Savings Bank (the district number 58 also approximates the outline of the initials SB) |
| GIR 0AA | Girobank, subsequently Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank (non-geographic postcode) |
| IV21 2LR | Two Lochs Radio (radio station in Gairloch, using all three characters of inbound code) |
| L30 4GB | Girobank (alternative geographic postcode) |
| LS98 1FD | First Direct bank |
| NG80 1EH | Experian Embankment House |
| NG80 1LH | Experian Lambert House |
| NG80 1RH | Experian Riverleen House |
| NG80 1TH | Experian Talbot House |
| NG80 1ZZ | Experian Landmark House |
| N81 1ER | Electoral Reform Services Limited |
| S2 4SU | Sheffield United F.C. |
| S6 1SW | Sheffield Wednesday F.C. |
| SE1 8UJ | Union Jack Club |
| SE9 2UG | University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Campus |
| SN38 1NW | Nationwide Building Society |
| SW1A 0PW | House of Lords (Palace of Westminster; see table above for House of Commons) |
| SW1W 0DT | The Daily Telegraph newspaper (relocated from E14 5DT) |
| W1D 4FA | The Football Association |
| W1J 5UB | UBS Wealth Management |
| W1N 4DJ | BBC Radio 1 (reference to "disc jockey"; actual postcode for Yalding House, W1W 6AJ, also accepted by Royal Mail) |