About P² People & Places

P² People & Places is the geodemographic classification built by Beacon Dodsworth, in partnership with the Department of Civic Design at the University of Liverpool who created Super Profiles, using 2001 Census data.

"P² People & Places provides a greater level of discrimination by deprivation, and possibly other demographic and social measures, than other geodemographic classification systems"

Karen Tocque, North West Public Health Observatory

In addition to the Census 2001, the Target Group Index (TGI) was used to provide extra descriptive variables. This provides measures of income and also lifestyle which cannot be obtained from the Census.

In the creation of P², the UK was split into four separate regions to allow maximum differentiation:

London and the M25
The rest of England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland

Because London is unique within the UK, by treating it as a separate region, P² provides real depth and understanding of London, whilst ensuring that the areas outside this region are also accurately represented.

How P² classifies people

P² is built at both full postcode and output area levels for the United Kingdom (UK). It is built in a hierarchical structure with three tiers of clusters: Trees, Branches and Leaves. These tiers are ranked in order of affluence. P2 People & Places people classification breakdown

The Tree level enables you to broadly profile customers or areas into 14 categories, which is further categorised into 41 Branches and 157 Leaves, allowing for greater segmentation.

Unlike other geodemographic classification systems, P² contains more socioeconomic data (e.g. on ethnic groups) which means it can look in more depth at disadvantaged groups, which is particularly useful to the public sector.

Having trouble choosing a people classification?

When choosing a geodemographic classification it is important that you choose the right one for you, your organisation and your data.

In Evaluation of Geodemographic Classifications, Barry Leventhal, an expert in geodemographic people classifications, identifies and discusses the technical issues to bear in mind when evaluating these systems.

» Read about the academic research that has been carried out using P²

Download the P² People & Places manual or request to be sent a hard copy of the manual by emailing your full contact details to p2@beacon-dodsworth.co.uk.