GMI confident about the future

Following the publication and retraction of an article on DRNO last week Rob Monster, CEO of Global Market Insite, has issued a statement to set the record straight re the current position of GMI. It shows a complex picture of a company which has recently seen the departure of a number of senior staff and is selling the Dutch company Telder back to its original owneMRS Conference 2002 Info & Registrationl finish 2001 in profit after a year of rapid expansion.

GMI was established in 1999 and serves more than 80 customers worldwide. The company will finish 2001 with roughly 42 staff (up from 12 in November 2000) and maintains offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the USA. The business has grown quickly in 2001, with the software/ASP business alone, according to Monster, jumping by a factor of 3-5 times in 2001 compared to 2000, primarily due to the success of the Net.MR package.

Since early October GMI has added new licensees in the USA, Asia and Latin America, and the growth trend is continuing in NovembMRS Conference 2002 Info & Registration last month has also seen the departure of five senior execs. Andrew Jeavons and Pat Molloy, both well known figures in the survey software industry, resigned at the end of October, after less than 6 weeks with GMI, and issued a statement asserting that 'the operating principles of the company were not compatible with their own'. Tariq Mirza, whose arrival at the company was announced on DRNO on 3rd October, left shortly afterwards as part of the same dispute. Directors Claire-Juliette Beale and Arturo Coto have also left the company. Nevertheless Monster is confident that GMI's management team 'continues to be strong'.

Telder BV, the Dutch data collection business which was one of GMI's first European licensees, is being sold back to its original owners, following a decision to focus on the core business areas of software and technology. GMI acquired outright control of the company last year. The transaction is expected to close in December, after which Telder will remain a strategic partner of GMI. Bert Buitenkamp, founder of Telder, will serve as Managing Director.

Monster is buoyant about the future: 2002 will see the launch of the newest release of Net-MR at the ESOMAR Net Effects 5 Conference in Berlin, from February 3-5. This will include significant improvements to Net-CAPI, Net-CATI, Resource Management, Automated scheduling of tasks, Improved tools for System monitoring, and high speed data analysis. Monster and Dr. Raymond Pettit will be presenting a paper "Global Market Research in the Internet Age", and a book by the same title will be published by John Wiley & Sons in 2002.

GMI statement in full: www.gmi-mr.com/gmi-news/newsdetail.phtml?news=41

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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