TNS and Research International UK merge to become TNS Research International

Combining the companies will cement TNS Research International as the UK’s leading custom

LONDON - from today the former TNS UK Custom Division will merge with Research International UK to become TNS Research International UK. The newly branded company will be head-quartered at both Gray’s Inn Road and More London Place.

Combining the companies will cement TNS Research International as the UK’s leading custom market research business, which will be led by Paul Edwards as Chairman and Andrew Czarnowski as CEO. Both businesses bring with them a long heritage and high level of expertise in areas such as brand & communication, stakeholder management and retail & shopper, as well as an expanded suite of innovation and product development solutions.

Andrew Czarnowski, CEO comments: “We are extremely excited about how complementary our two research businesses are to each other and all the benefits merging the companies will offer our clients, employees and the business. We have taken industry leading products like Microtest Nouveau and eValuate and built-in other supporting solutions to expand their reach across the entire product life cycle. We will also be launching some exciting new solutions to the market in the near future.”

The UK business will be structured by industry sectors including Consumer, Technology, , Finance, Business & Consumer Services and Travel & Tourism. Each sector will be home to a large number of specialist researchers who have expertise in specific industry areas, as well as a high level of sector knowledge.

Paul Edwards, Chairman said: “We have grown in size and this works to our advantage in so many ways - not only does it mean we have access to an enlarged pool of researchers with an even broader level of expertise and global reach - but we can also focus on our industry sectors to offer very specific advice across a number of specialist areas. This allows us to give clients all the benefits of dealing with a global agency as well as offering tailored industry solutions.”

Also from today TNS Custom’s UK Social sector and the social team from BMRB will be merging to become TNS-BMRB and will be headquartered at More London Place. The new business, the largest commercial provider of social research and insight to Whitehall, will be led by Michelle Harrison as CEO. This combined business will have an even stronger random probability survey capability, and will be extending its offer in the social marketing and polling.

For further information please visit www.tns-ri.co.uk for more information.

About TNS Research International
TNS Research International UK is part of the TNS group, the world’s largest custom research agency delivering actionable insights and research-based business advice to its clients so they can make more effective business decisions. TNS offers comprehensive industry knowledge within the Consumer, Technology, Finance, Automotive and Political & Social sectors, supported by a unique product offering that stretches across the entire range of marketing and business issues, specialising in product development & innovation, brand & communication, stakeholder management, retail & shopper, and qualitative research. Delivering best-in-class service across more than 75 countries, TNS is part of Kantar, the world’s largest research, insight and consultancy network. Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.

About Kantar
Kantar is one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com