Research Now hopes for continued success in 2009
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UK-- Online fieldwork provider Research Now has reported on a successful 2008 and says it has made a good start to its new financial year.
Results out today show the firm's revenue was up 60% to £41.2m for the year ended 31 October 2008. Profit before tax was up to £5.7m from £0.3m in the previous year and the firm's operating margin was up from 9% to 15.3%.
CEO Chris Havemann said that trading for the new financial year was good so far but that “like most companies today, [we] are naturally cautious”.
He told Research that the gradual substitution of offline data collection with online means Research Now still has a long way to go in all its markets. “We've barely scratched the surface of the Asian markets and even in many markets in Europe the transition to online is still quite early,” he said. “We've invested a lot in geographic expansion and that will continue to bear fruit for several years.”
Havemann said research has proven to be relatively resilient during previous downturns, and that economic pressures are likely to encourage the movement of data collection online. “I don't think research is immune to the recession at all, but I think we're well positioned,” he said.
The firm recently opened an office in New Zealand and entered Asia through a new joint venture in Shanghai and a subsidiary in Singapore. It now has 36 panels and offices in 10 countries.
Research Now's co-founder and managing director Andrew Cooper left the firm at the end of the 2008 financial year to set up a new business, Verve Partners, and the firm has now put in place three regional managing directors: Phil Rance in Europe, Jeff Karry in the Americas and Jason Buchanan in Asia Pacific.
Author: Robert Bain
Related links:
Research Now beats 2008 expectations
Cooper makes way for new management team at Research Now
Research Now looks east as US expansion pays off
