Annual Statistics from the BMRA

The most recent annual statistics breakdown of the UK industry from the BMRA (British Market Research Association) shows total industry turnover for the year 2001 was £1.15 billion, up from £1.07 billion in 2000. Although lower than the 9.3% increase over 1999, when turnover was £1 billion, last year's increase still outstripped inflation.

The strong growth sectors over the past three years have been Media & Marketing, up 300%; non-OTC Pharmaceuticals, 51% growth; Health & Beauty, up 45%, and Government, which posted 42% growth.

Based on a three-year average turnover, the British Market Research Association (BMRA) breakdown also reveals which sectors declined or stayed flat in the year 2000-2001.

'The three year comparison shows how many sectors marked time in 2000-2001, compared to their growth in the previous two periods,' explains BMRA chairman Ivor Stocker. 'For example, Food, which is the biggest overall sector with a 9.7% market share, still declined by 0.7% in 2001, despite an excellent growth rate of 8.2% the previous year.'

Turning to data collection methods, door-to-door interviewing continues to be the dominant technique in terms of revenues generated with a 23% share. 'Other, less expensive data collection methods, such as telephone, hall and street, have grown more over the last couple of years,' points out Stocker. 'In terms of volume however, web interviewing is now as prevalent as halls and street interviewing, but is so inexpensive by comparison with other methods, that its revenue share is still less than 1%'.

'Of the major study types, it's evident that NPD has shown the least increase over the past three years, which underlines the relative lack of emphasis on new products or line extensions among our clients. This is linked to the bumpy ride that has been experienced by qualitative research, especially Group Discussions, from which revenues have declined by 15%. On the other hand,' adds Stocker, 'there was a big surge of interest in Brand or Corporate Reputation research, as clients sought to leverage their existing market presence. '

'The industry overall is showing the kind of growth we would expect, in the market sectors we would expect it,' concludes Stocker. 'In the current climate however, we do need to exercise some caution where forecasting is concerned. However, BMRA, which represents over 70% of UK market research sales, is confident that market research is becoming a more mainstream component of business as a whole.'

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