News 2025

This year’s Network AGM & Christmas Drinks event took place at the Ipsos offices (just east of Tower Bridge) on Tuesday 2 December. Over 40 members attended and all seemed to enjoy it – for evidence of which, see the photos now available in the gallery.

Commercial chatbots powered by artificial intelligence respond inaccurately and inconsistently to queries about UK census statistics, according to a report published by the MRS Census and GeoDemographics Group (CGG).

Tickets are still available for the Winter Pub Quiz Night on Monday 24th November in support of the of the Market Research Benevolent Association. Join the MRBA for a wonderful evening of fun, raffle, food, and philanthropy.

The Network’s Autumn Lunch was held on Tuesday 14 October in the private dining rooms at Brasserie Blanc’s Southbank restaurant.

Research Network member Simon Chadwick, who has lived and worked in the USA for many years, has been inducted into the Market Research Hall of Fame.

The latest edition of the Newsletter was emailed out to Network members at the beginning of September. It contains updates on activities, details of the forthcoming Autumn Lunch and fascinating articles by members, alongside obituaries and regular items.

Research Live reports that The Insights Association, Nielsen, the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and others are warning against changes to federal funding legislation that could dramatically reduce response rates on Census Bureau surveys.

The 2025 Summer Party was held at Doggett’s Coat and Badge on 2nd July 2025, a return to one of the Network’s favourite venues. The weather was overcast at the start, but soon relented to reveal a near perfect sky and more equable temperatures

The Archive of Market and Social Research held its annual Summer Party on a sunny summer evening on Tuesday 10 June at the top floor conference room and roof terrace of Bush House King’s College London. Around 80 members of the great and good in Market Research and Insights attended a meeting with drinks, speeches, discussion and canapés.

The Research Network is delighted to announce that it has a new sponsor. InsightX Research Solutions, a bespoke data collection and field services company, will sponsor the running costs of the Network for the next 12 months. This is entirely separate from sponsorships for individual lunches and events, which will continue as before.

With two new interviews now available, the Network’s Oral History project has reached the milestone of 50 completed and published recordings since its launch in 2011. The latest two subjects are Jo Corneill and Peter Menneer

The MRS has published its list of new Fellows of the Society for 2025. It includes two current Research Network members, Paul Edwards and James Turner.

The Network’s Spring Lunch on Tuesday 29 April explored a new venue, the Stoke House on Buckingham Palace Road, close to Victoria station. With some 80 members and guests, attendance was higher than for several years. And deservedly so: food and service were excellent, as was the company, of course!

The MRS Conference was at the Hilton Bankside in Southwark as usual. Our stand was in the conference entrance area upstairs with the other MRS affiliated bodies. Our pull-up banner and cards with QR codes connected to the Network’s website were very popular and generated a number of serious membership enquiries.

Research Network member Liz Norman is one of three newly elected members of the MRS Executive Board.

The MRBA’s annual auction has started! This event is a vital way for the MRBA to raise much needed funds to help those in financial crisis in the research industry. The auction is now on and runs until the evening of Wednesday 19th March.

The 2025 MRBA Auction kicks off at 9 am on Monday 3rd March and runs for over 2 weeks until 9 pm on Wednesday 19th March. The MRBA are looking for donations, no matter how small, for this year’s Auction – every item they can auction helps make the event a success.

Adam Phillips, who heads the Research Network’s Steering Group, is to relinquish his role as CEO of AMSR, the Archive of Market and Social Research. He has run the Archive since it was first formally established in 2016 and will remain a member of its Board of Trustees.