The UK’s geospatial industry keeps growing every year. In 2024, the wider geospatial sector, which includes mapping firms and location data specialists, was estimated to be worth around £6 billion annually. With so many mapping companies to choose from, it can be tricky to decide who suits your needs best.
To help you compare what’s out there, here’s a look at eight GIS firms that operate in the UK or have provisions to offer mapping services in the UK and how Atlas Mapping compares to each one. If you’re searching for practical support on store mapping, business expansion or territory design, this guide should help you see which provider fits your goals.
First of all, you might be wondering what exactly GIS is. GIS isn’t just about producing nice maps. It’s about connecting data to real places so you can understand what’s happening and where. This type of data can then be used by businesses to shape decisions like store placement, territory planning, franchise expansion, field team management or customer targeting.
This is where mapping companies become valuable. They turn raw data into something you can act on, which often makes a significant difference between informed decisions and guesswork.
Here are eight GIS or geospatial brands that often appear on shortlists, along with how they compare to Atlas Mapping.
Esri UK is one of the best known GIS names in the world. This company offers enterprise-level tools built around the ArcGIS platform. Large organisations often rely on it for its in-depth spatial analysis and complex geographical modelling.
Pros: powerful tools, long track record, suited to public sector or data-heavy environments.
Cons: the system can be complex and may feel overwhelming if you only need accessible mapping for commercial decision making.
How Atlas Mapping compares: if you want straightforward insight without needing technical GIS skills, Atlas Mapping is much easier to use. Our Vision platform was built for retail, franchising and growth-focused businesses that want clarity rather than complexity.
Cadcorp is a respected UK software provider that offers desktop, web and cloud GIS tools, as well as integrations with trusted data sources like Ordnance Survey.
Pros: strong for organisations that want full control of their spatial data.
Cons: more suited to technical GIS teams than commercial users.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Cadcorp offers depth, while Atlas Mapping offers simplicity with the right level of analytical power. Our platform focuses on real business outcomes such as deciding where to open next or how best to structure territories.
Sweco provides GIS consultancy services across infrastructure, utilities and environmental sectors. Their GIS offering is usually part of larger engineering or planning projects.
Pros: ideal for complex, multi-disciplinary projects.
Cons: not designed for retail or franchise site planning, so it can be more than you need.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Atlas Mapping is built for commercial growth. If you want clear guidance on market potential, store optimisation or franchise territories, Vision is a better fit than heavy consultancy.
Geoplan is a UK-based location intelligence provider with a long history in the sector. Their tools are often used for territory planning and operational decision making, including route optimisation and field activity planning.
Pros: strong experience in territory planning and route-based decision making, useful for operational teams that need to balance workloads and plan coverage efficiently.
Cons: Geoplan’s strengths often lean towards operational planning (routes, scheduling and field optimisation). If your main priority is retail expansion planning and stakeholder-friendly decision outputs, you may not need the operational depth.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Geoplan is a strong option if routing and operational coverage are the core need. Atlas Mapping is built for commercial growth planning. Vision focuses on catchments, store networks and territory design that’s easy for non-technical teams to understand and share.
Geolytix is well known in the retail location planning space for combining platform tools with specialist datasets and modelling support. They offer a location intelligence approach that often includes forecasting and network optimisation, as well as widely used retail datasets.
Pros: strong retail focus, well-regarded data products, and the ability to support more advanced modelling and forecasting work.
Cons: if you mainly want a fast, practical tool for day-to-day commercial mapping and decision making, a model-led approach can feel more involved than necessary.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Geolytix is a strong choice when you want proprietary retail datasets and predictive modelling support. Atlas Mapping is ideal when you want a clear, simple platform your team can use right away for territories, catchments and expansion planning, with outputs that are easy to communicate across the business.
Smappen is a web-based territory and catchment mapping tool known for quick travel-time mapping (isochrones) and simple territory creation. It’s often used for early-stage coverage checks, drive-time zones and rapid comparisons between locations.
Pros: quick to learn, very useful for travel-time catchments and simple territory building, and a good fit for teams that want fast visual answers.
Cons: it’s designed to be broad and self-serve. For more specialised UK retail and franchise expansion work, you may still need extra data packs, deeper commercial workflows, or more tailored outputs for stakeholders.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Smappen works well for early sketches and quick drive-time views. Atlas Mapping is built for commercial planning end to end. Vision is not just a mapping tool but a delivery platform for deeper analysis, complex mapping projects and real-world decision making. Clients don’t just get software, they get experienced consultants who understand UK retail, franchising and network planning, and who help shape the analysis, interpret the results and turn them into clear, decision-ready outputs.
This combination of hands-on support, sector experience and tailored mapping is where Atlas Mapping’s biggest advantage lies, especially for businesses making high-value expansion and investment decisions.
The UK has hundreds of boutique GIS firms that specialise in everything from data digitisation to remote sensing. Some offer flexible project support and custom solutions.
Pros: adaptable and often capable of niche data work.
Cons: quality and expertise can vary, and many lack ready-made tools for business expansion.
How Atlas Mapping compares: with more than a decade of experience across many sectors, Atlas Mapping offers reliability with the flexibility to adapt to unique business needs. Our tools are already shaped around the most common commercial challenges, which helps to speed up results.
Some companies specialise in drone surveys, satellite imagery and environmental modelling. These services are essential for sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure and environmental management.
Pros: strong technical depth and access to specialist datasets.
Cons: not usually relevant for store planning, customer analysis or franchise territory design.
How Atlas Mapping compares: Atlas Mapping focuses on business outcomes. Rather than analysing land use change or environmental conditions, we help you understand customer behaviour, market gaps and expansion opportunities.
Here’s where Atlas Mapping really earns its place among the top mapping companies in the UK.
Vision is designed so anyone in your organisation can understand the insights it provides. There’s no need to be a GIS expert. The interface is clean, the workflows are intuitive and the output is clear enough for senior stakeholders to make decisions with confidence.
Whether you’re planning store locations, mapping territories or modelling growth potential, Atlas Mapping focuses on the questions that matter for business expansion. You won’t need to sift through unnecessary tools or features because Vision is built around real commercial priorities.
Our data packs give your maps real depth, including demographics, drive-time modelling and neighbourhood profiling. Being able to pick the most relevant data pack for your company means you can compare areas accurately and spot any opportunities that you might otherwise miss.
With our pricing you can start small and scale up as your network grows. There are no long-term contracts and you get access to powerful capability without the overheads of enterprise GIS software.
Maps only help if they’re understood. Atlas Mapping explains data in plain, friendly language so your whole team stays aligned. This is especially useful for franchisors and multi-site operators who need clear communication as they grow.
When looking for the top GIS companies in the UK, businesses often start by looking at the mapping companies with the biggest names first. However, that does not mean they offer exactly what you need. The best provider for you is a company that can solve your specific problem. If you are looking to expand your physical network, relying on customer insight, designing territories or planning where to grow next, a commercial-focused mapping solution often beats a general-purpose GIS system.
Ask yourself what you need most:
If the answer is yes, Atlas Mapping is likely to be the best choice.
The UK geospatial market is thriving, with thousands of companies offering everything from deep technical GIS analysis to bespoke mapping consultancy. But if you want a solution designed for retail planning, franchise growth, market analysis or business expansion, Atlas Mapping offers clarity, reliability and ease of use that many traditional GIS providers simply don’t focus on.
Vision makes mapping approachable and genuinely helpful for commercial teams. It translates data into decisions, which is what most businesses really need.
If you are ready to take the guesswork out of your business growth strategy and want clearer insights into where your business should go next, we would love to help. Get in touch with the team at Atlas Mapping and see how Vision can give you a more accurate and confident view of your market. Whether you’re exploring new locations, refining territories or planning long-term growth, we’re here to make the whole process simpler. Reach out today and let’s start mapping your next move.