The firm said the figures “reflect strong performances from all sides of the business including the company’s core reputation and political work as well as its growing strength in customer, consumer and omnibus research”.

Omnibus turnover grew by more than £800,000 while customer and consumer research as a whole accounted for just over £2m of the year’s turnover.

CEO Michael Simmonds (pictured) said: “This is a very strong set of results reflecting the success of the strategy we agreed two years ago. All areas of the business have exceeded their targets and our investment in Populus Data Solutions, our online and CATI field and tab company, continues to contribute significantly to the group’s financial strength.”

Simmonds co-founded Populus in 2003 with Andrew Cooper, who recently returned to the agency fold after a stint as director of strategy to Prime Minister David Cameron.