NEWS12 September 2011
UK— Scottish market research and fieldwork agency George Street Research has gone into liquidation, Research has learned.
Accounting firm Johnston Carmichael in Edinburgh confirmed it had been appointed as liquidator but was unable to comment further today.
George Street was founded in 1989 by two former Taylor Nelson (now TNS) directors, Jo Fawcett and Sue Granville who were later joined by research director David Primrose (pictured).
The company employed around 15 people at its offices in Broughton Street, Edinburgh.
George Street offered qual and quant services to clients in the agricultural, financial, housing, leisure and media, tourism, transport and health and welfare sectors.
Financial documents for the year ending 31 March 2010 filed with Companies House show turnover down year-on-year from £1.1m to £975,000 and operating profit almost halving from £35,000 to £16,870. Profits for the year were £12,500.
A further search of Companies House revealed that a new company, Why Research, was registered on 9 September. Listed as directors are Fawcett and Granville and two former George Street employees, Neil Costley and Shona Mulholland.
Update: A previous version of this story listed Melissa Scott as part of the leadership team and a photo caption made reference to her as a director. Scott has been in touch to point out that this is incorrect. She was not a director, nor was she head of field and tab operations at the time of the company’s closure, though she was an employee. Apologies for any confusion.
Update 2: Added additional detail on Why Research and its directors.