GfK NOP won Best Agency with a turnover above £20m, while ABA Market Research was Best Agency with turnover under £20m. Both were commended for their strong financial performance, coupled with a commitment to clients and a drive for innovation. ResearchBods was named best new agency, with CrowdLab highly commended.

Best In-house Research Team went to the Sainsbury’s customer insight team who were commended for demonstrating how using research in the boardroom can help to inform key decisions and result in positive changes within business.

Best Place to Work went to Flamingo, with Mesh Planning also highly commended. In the innovation category meanwhile, Dubit took the honours for its Clickroom platform.

The Research Awards were judged by a panel of senior marketing and insight executives, including:

• Clodagh Ward, marketing director, Lil-lets UK
• Laura Chaibi, director of research EMEA, Yahoo!
• Mhairi McEwan, co-founder and CEO, Brand Learning
• James Holden, head of marketing and audiences, BBC
• Mike Hoban, director of marketing, brand and customer insight, Thomas Cook UK & Ireland
• Federico Bolza, VP, creative group, Sony Music Entertainment UK

Also on the panel were Brian Tarran and Joe Fernandez, editor and deputy editor of Research Magazine and Research-live.com.

The Research Awards are part of the MRS Awards. A complete list of the winners is available here.

Jane Frost, MRS chief executive, said: “It has been a pivotal year for research and, despite the tough economic times, the first-ever comprehensive sector review revealed that the market is 50% bigger than previously thought. Now, more than ever, we must recognise those individuals helping to lead the sector forward and inspiring change. The Awards ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate creativity, innovation and business achievements and a further demonstration of the growing value and relevance of research.”