BDRC Group acquires ESA Market Research Ltd

London, 21st May 2012 – BDRC Group has acquired retail specialist ESA Market Research Ltd. The acquisition will lift the annual turnover of the BDRC Group to more than £20m.

ESA specialises in driving customer experience improvement for clients through combining an understanding of the in-store marketing environment, customer feedback and client operational excellence.  Clients include amazon.co.uk, Booker, B&Q, The Co-operative Group, Iceland, Mecca, Next, Rank Group and Sainsbury’s. ESA operates a panel of over 10,000 auditors, interviewers and mystery shoppers as well as a CATI unit.

Dr Cris Tarrant, CEO of the BDRC Group, says: “Through this acquisition we are continuing our strategy of investment to provide our clients with a world class suite of research tools and techniques.  ESA is a great fit with our existing businesses and we are confident that we can introduce their services to our clients and vice versa.”

As part of the deal, Adam Donaldson, ESA’s CEO, retains his position at the company along with all 35 members of the team who will remain in the ESA St Albans office.  BDRC Group’s Chairman Ivor Stocker is to become Chairman of ESA. He will be joined on the ESA Board by Cris Tarrant and Richard Sheldrake, Managing Director of Perspective Research Services.

Adam Donaldson, CEO of ESA, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our clients as it combines the market leading expertise of ESA in tracking in-store marketing activity and customer experience measurement with the recognised leadership of BDRC Group in analytics and consulting.  Together we will give clients the unique opportunity to enjoy a significant improvement in both the experience and the spend of their customers.”

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About the BDRC Group

The BDRC Group comprises leading specialist market research agency BDRC Continental, operations group Perspective Research Services and, most recently, BDRC Asia in Singapore and BDRC Jones Donald in Sydney.

The Group ethos is that each company be staffed by highly experienced researchers with great reputations in their individual fields as well as in the market research industry. Clients of the BDRC Group value the consultative approach and ability to understand and add value to clients’ businesses – what we call ‘providing intelligence’.  BDRC Continental has developed proprietary techniques including Tracktion, Grapevine, Service Intensity, the Business Opinion Omnibus, SME Finance Monitor, and ZMET Visionary Thinking.  Perspective Research Services brings expertise in all aspects of data collection across the globe - business and consumer; qualitative and quantitative; telephone, face-to-face and online – and offers a range of tools for data handling, analysis and reporting.  BDRC Asia, Singapore’s newest full service agency specializing in B2B, financial, and travel and tourism research and business consulting opened in October 2011.  BDRC Asia offers both a CATI facility and a viewing studio housed in its offices.  In November 2011, BDRC Group added Australia to its offering.  Based in Sydney, BDRC Jones Donald has an enviable reputation in financial, retail and telecoms research and consulting.