n

HE UK RESEARCH INDUSTRY T LEAGUE TABLES

The Top 100 and consolidated ownership tables are the most comprehensive guide to the largest players in the UK market. The UK Research Industry League Tables are published annually in Research and updated frequently on research-live.com. Scope
n The

Why publish industry league tables? Compilation and publication of industry league tables are undertaken to identify the largest suppliers in the sector, and to contribute data towards assessment of the total size of the industry. The tables also convey the shape of the industry, and place businesses alongside one another in a wider industry context. They offer some indication of market share, and at least elementary benchmarking of comparative growth. League tables are primarily statements of scale of operation. Many industries are characterised by a cluster of large organisations at the top and a long tail of small and medium-sized enterprises. The research sector is no exception. Large-scale organisations with multinational/ global presence are essential for supporting clients who demand certain capabilities from their suppliers. Consolidation in the last decade has created a small number of such organisations. However, many of these have struggled to achieve either significant or consistent growth, or indeed to gain market share within the mature UK market. That gain has tended to be derived from relatively fast-growing developing markets elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, league tables which rank turnover are not statements of either performance or profitability. Beyond the lifestyle companies, there are many excellent research agencies which deliberately restrict or limit size as they see personal attention as part of their offering to clients. It should also be remembered that there are many successful and reputable enterprises whose turnover is below the threshold for inclusion in the Top 100. It remains a huge advantage of the UK industry that it continues to generate start-ups and new entrants, some of whom have very high growth rates from a modest base and constitute compelling business development case studies. The advent of online research is already bridging some of the international capability gap between large and small providers.

tables record turnover by UK-based organisations regardless of the location of their ultimate ownership or of their clients. n The tables include companies engaged in the collection, processing, analysis and interpretation of information about markets and social issues. The diversity of the companies reflects the diversity of the industry. n The table excludes companies that are wholly dedicated to data collection, panels and fieldwork. n Even those companies whose origins lie in conventional survey research (the traditional market research industry) are remarkably different from one another. Many years ago the industry embraced extension into a huge variety of qualitative (i.e. non-survey) techniques. Now there is widespread acceptance of the essential added value of advisory and consulting skills as part of the core mix of skills and services offered to clients. n Definition of the industry boundaries is therefore more blurred than before, and certainly more than some traditionalists would prefer. Just as few professionals in any sector can any longer work effectively in single-discipline silos, so too the services of agencies are broadening and diversifying, as are the backgrounds and experience of people employed in agencies. n Client demand for insight and intelligence certainly now draws on many sources of information. It is notable how many organisations with origins in traditional survey research now position and describe themselves more broadly as market information groups. n The pace of change will continue to accelerate. Remember Darwins outlook on evolution. it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

How the tables were compiled Many information sources have been used, including the financial and business press and related websites. n Companies House has been the principal source of comparative data in the public domain but reporting dates vary within the year. Most are December but a few are as early as February and March. n Annual reports of public companies, and their websites, continue to vary between the financially informative and the ingeniously opaque. n Private companies have in many cases supplied their turnover data directly to us, particularly if they file only modified accounts at Companies House. In a few cases, these are round numbers rather than precise figures. n For a small number of companies turnover has been estimated, based on known turnover ranges in the Research Buyers Guide and other information.

n Many participants in the MRS Annual Survey of

the industry agreed to the publication of their turnover. n Some groups of companies publish the revenues of their divisions and subsidiaries; others publish only consolidated financial data. This table contains both consolidated and individual company turnover data. The table is therefore not always comparing like with like in the ranking. This is addressed by re-ranking them in the Consolidated Ownership Table. Following acquisition, some well-known brands disappear each year from the table. n Both tables seek to identify the volume of business derived from a UK base, including international projects. Although a few inconsistencies remain, the tables are important components in estimating the overall size of the UK market for market research, as they represent the majority of the industrys turnover.

Table 1 The UK Research Industry League Table: Top 100

The largest suppliers of market research, analysis and intelligence, ranked by individual company UK-based turnover (m) reported in 2008 Last updated: 1 January 2010

m 2008 1 TNS 2 Ipsos MORI 3 Millward Brown 4 GfK NOP 5 Dunnhumby 6 AC Nielsen 7 Synovate 8 IMS Health Group 9 Cello Research & Consultancy 10 Datamonitor 11 BMRB 12 Research International 13 Mintel International Group *158.000 128.109 115.100 97.915 79.721 *74.000 71.845 61.296 52.935 51.117 *48.500 *46.000 45.593 2007 149.999 115.409 113.583 93.624 55.186 70.563 65.361 65.147 40.063 45.796 48.331 48.345 43.753 2006 147.824 110.011 113.057 96.071 47.787 66.971 64.296 61.114 30.965 70.392 48.203 53.122 39.741 * Estimated

2008 14 NatCen 15 IRI Infoscan 16 Euromonitor 17 GfK Retail & Technology 18 Harris Interactive 19 Hall & Partners 20 Ebiquity 21 ICM Research Group 22 Optimisa Research 23 Adelphi International Research 24 BDRC Group 25 Hay Group Insight 26 ORC International 27 YouGov 28 mmr Group 29 Flamingo International 30 ICC Information 31 Gallup Organisation 32 Added Value 33 Experian Footfall 34 Illuminas 35 Double Helix Development 36 AGB Nielsen Media Research 37 Brainjuicer 38 Nunwood Group 39 The Research Partnership 40 HPI Research 41 Marketing Sciences 42 Maritz Research 43 BMG Research 44 ESA 45 BASES 35.950 32.999 29.777 22.922 21.913 21.200 18.419 17.789 17.699 15.733 15.699 *15.000 13.793 12.574 12.284 11.726 *11.000 10.727 10.493 10.305 9.955 9.590 n/a 9.322 9.318 9.176 9.158 8.846 8.790 8.458 8.546 *7.800

2007 31.257 33.451 25.890 20.295 22.583 18.500 17.220 17.464 11.415 16.734 15.375 n/a 13.680 7.900 12.528 9.465 11.637 9.400 11.752 9.388 12.141 8.450 9.333 6.566 8.585 8.236 10.018 7.787 7.927 9.022 8.053 n/a

2006 29.959 34.161 22.517 18.863 22.679 16.300 16.100 14.802 5.894 15.432 6.924 n/a 12.742 4.750 11.060 8.516 12.841 8.700 15.081 9.160 12.296 7.000 10.798 4.610 6.651 7.571 8.023 6.796 11.500 6.989 5.882 n/a * Estimated

2008 46 Holden Pearmain Research 47 Lorien Research 48 PWC International Survey Unit 49 FDS 50 The Futures Company 51 IFF Research 52 SPA 53 Opinion Leader 54 Business Research Group 55 Simpson Carpenter 56 Conquest Research 57 Retail Eyes 58 ISR: International Survey Research 59 Incomes Data Services 60 Network Research & Marketing 61 Oxford Research Agency 62 RDSi 63 Grass Roots Group 64 Jigsaw Research 65 Accent 66 CSW Research 67 Quadrangle 68 MARKIT Economics 69 Brand Health International 70 Firefish 71 RSMB Television Research 72 Northstar Research Partners 73 The Planning Shop International 74 Truth 75 ABA Market Research 76 Arnold & Bolingbroke 77 Flow Interactive 7.500 *7.500 *7.500 7.325 7.059 6.987 6.947 *6.750 6.747 6.726 6.226 6.104 *6.000 *5.700 5.372 5.309 *5.200 5.026 4.957 4.781 4.612 4.562 *4.500 4.390 4.389 4.321 4.113 *4.110 4.015 4.009 *4.000 3.900

2007 7.500 n/a n/a 6.050 6.834 5.511 6.755 9.375 4.802 7.202 6.182 4.658 n/a 5.504 4.058 n/a n/a 4.858 3.929 4.720 8.481 3.591 n/a 3.914 3.869 3.223 3.059 4.900 0.688 3.409 n/a 3.500

2006 7.100 n/a n/a 5.958 7.175 5.565 6.017 6.613 5.104 6.775 5.580 3.084 n/a 5.388 4.631 n/a n/a 3.920 n/a 3.893 5.821 n/a n/a 4.409 3.775 3.084 3.142 n/a 0.000 2.390 n/a 3.000 * Estimated

2008 78 Kadence UK 79 Promar International 80 Echo Research 81 Freshminds Research 82 Market Probe Europe 83 BPRI 84 Steer Davies Gleave 85 National Readership Surveys 86 eDigitalResearch 87 The Leadership Factor 88 Intrepid 89 Virtual Surveys 90 Incite Marketing Planning 91 Experian Hitwise 92 Millward Brown Ulster 93 Aequus Research 94 Oxford Outcomes 95 Maven Research 96 Swift Research 97 JRA Research 98 B2B International 99 First Research International 100 Discovery Research 3.890 3.872 3.776 *3.750 n/a 3.729 *3.692 n/a 3.505 *3.500 3.399 3.380 3.257 3.209 *3.200 *3.150 *3.100 3.030 2.905 2.745 2.640 2.595 2.575

2007 2.808 3.805 3.775 3.340 3.761 3.864 *3.057 n/a 2.620 4.300 3.106 2.620 3.275 4.447 3.149 3.558 3.850 2.698 3.583 2.576 2.130 3.626 2.596

2006 2.932 4.855 3.304 2.395 4.017 5.701 *2.395 3.538 n/a n/a n/a 1.980 2.474 2.723 2.945 2.557 2.400 2.973 n/a n/a n/a 2.689 2.235 * Estimated

Table 2 The Consolidated Ownership League Table

Largest businesses in UK-based market research, analysis, intelligence industry ranked by consolidated ownership World UK Owner 2 1 WPP plc Country Turnover Year m UK *417.245 Operating companies

2007 Kantar Group TNS, Research International, Millward Brown, BMRB, BPRI, Added Value, The Futures Company, All Global, Lightspeed Research, Red Dot Square Solutions) 2008 Ipsos MORI 2008 GfK NOP, GfK Retail & Technology, GfK Animal Health, GfK ChartTrack, GfK IFR (UK) 2007 AC Nielsen, BASES, Netratings 2008 Dunnhumby 2008 Synovate, Carat Insight 2007 IMS Health Group (UK) 2008 Cello Research & Consultancy - RS Consulting, Consensus Research, Insight-Research Group, Leapfrog Research & Planning, The Value Engineers (part). MR UK Research, 2CV 2008 Datamonitor 2008 Mintel private ownership 2008 NatCen, registered charity, company limited by guarantee 2008 IRI Infoscan 2008 Hall & Partners, Flamingo 2008 ICM, Marketing Sciences, MSTS, CML 2008 Euromonitor 2008 Harris Interactive 2008 Ebiquity Media & Marketing Analytics (formerly Thomson Intermedia) 2008 Footfall, Hitwise, Catalist, Future Foundation * Estimated

5 4

2 Ipsos Group SA 3 GfK SE

France

128.109

Germany 123.829

1 6 3 19

4 The Nielsen Company 5 Tesco plc 6 Aegis plc 7 IMS Health Inc 8 Cello Group plc

USA UK UK USA UK

*88.000 79.700 74.096 65.147 51.117

7 15

9 Informa plc

UK

51.117 45.593 35.950 32.999 32.926 30.754 29.777 21.913 18.419

10 Mintel International Group UK 11 Nat Centre for Social Research UK 12 Information Resources Inc USA 13 Omnicom Inc 14 Creston plc 15 Euromonitor plc 16 Harris Interactive Inc 17 Ebiquity plc USA UK UK USA UK

18 Experian plc

UK

18.389

World UK Owner

Country Turnover Year m UK 17.699

Operating companies

19 Optimisa plc

2008 KAE Marketing Intelligence, nxtMOVE, Andrew Irving Associates, Report International, Quaestor, Buckingham Research, Summit Studios 2008 Private ownership 2008 BDRC, Continental Research, Perspective 2008 Hay Group Insight 2008 ORC International 2008 YouGov 2008 ICC Information, Keynote 2008 Healthcare Research Worldwide, QUBIQ Online, MMR Food & Drink Research Worldwide 2008 Opinion Leader, Ledbury Research, Brand Democracy, Caucus, Naked Eye, Facts International 2008 The Gallup Organisation 2008 Munro Global, FDS International, ACE, M-Lab, 3000ft 2008 Illuminas

13 24

20 Adelphi International Research UK 21 BDRC Group 22 Hay Group plc 23 Info Group Inc 24 YouGov plc 25 Bonnier Group 26 mmr Group UK UK USA UK UK

15.733 15.699 *15.000 13.793 12.574 12.284

Sweden *12.500

27 Chime Communications

UK

*12.000

28 Gallup Inc 29 Munro Global 30 Media Square plc

USA UK UK

10.727 10,214 9.955