End of the Road for George Street

Edinburgh-based George Street Research has entered liquidation after more than two decades as a significant player in Scottish MR.

The firm, which operated under the strapline 'no stone unturned', was founded in 1989 by Jo Fawcett and Sue Granville, both of whom had worked previously at Taylor Nelson and both of whom remained at the company throughout. Directors David Primrose and Brian Chappell completed the recent senior line-up.

George Street worked for clients in a number of sectors including financial, media, tourism and leisure, and public sector including housing, transport, and health & welfare. Sources suggest that in recent years its emphasis had shifted slightly from a financial focus towards more public sector clients.

The firm had achieved ISO 20252 and MRQSA standards - an area overseen by Granville - and Fawcett is a past Chairman of the MRS in Scotland. Turnover for the year ending March 2010 had dropped just below the million pound mark from £1.1m the previous year.

Solicitors Johnston Carmichael are handling the liquidation but were unable to comment today.

However, on Friday, Fawcett, Granville and former George Street employees Neil Costley and Shona Mulholland registered a new firm called Why Research with Companies House. On his Linkedin profile, Costley (pictured) describes the new company as 'a small market and social research consultancy in Edinburgh' offering a full range of research services covering face-to-face, telephone and online research across a variety of sectors.

Web site: www.george-street-research.co.uk .