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Ipsos MORI
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Ipsos MORI was the name of a market research company based in London, England which is now known as Ipsos and still continues as the UK arm of the global Ipsos group.[1] It was formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI in October 2005.[2]
Key Information
The company is a member of the British Polling Council and Market Research Society.[3][4]
History
[edit]In 1946, Mark Abrams formed a market research company called Research Services Ltd. (RSL). RSL operated until 1991 when it was acquired by Ipsos, becoming Ipsos UK.[5][6]
MORI (Market and Opinion Research International) was founded in 1969 by Robert Worcester. Robert Worcester stepped down from chairmanship of MORI in June 2005.[7] Ipsos announced it would acquire MORI in October 2005 for £88 million, and would merge it with Ipsos UK. The merged company was named Ipsos MORI.[8] In February 2022 the company rebranded to simply Ipsos.[1]
Methodology
[edit]Ipsos MORI's research is conducted via a wide range of methodologies, using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), as well as face-to-face (CAPI) and Internet surveys. Many telephone surveys use a system called random digit dialing to interview a representative group of the population.[9][10]
Controversies
[edit]In May 2013, The Sunday Times reported that Ipsos MORI had negotiated an agreement with the EE mobile phone network to commercialise the data on that company's 23 million subscribers.[11] The article stated that Ipsos MORI was looking to sell this data to the Metropolitan Police and other parties. The data included "gender, age, postcode, websites visited, time of day text is sent [and] location of customer when call is made". When confronted by the newspaper, the Metropolitan Police indicated that they would not be taking the discussions any further. Ipsos MORI defended their actions, stressing that the company only received anonymised data, without any personally identifiable data on an individual customer, and underlining that reports are only ever made on aggregated groups of more than 50 customers.[12][13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ipsos rebrands in the UK". www.ipsos.com. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ "Ipsos buys Mori in £88m deal". Research. 10 October 2005. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Officers / Members - British Polling Council". www.britishpollingcouncil.org. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ "Ipsos MORI - Market Research Agencies - The Research Buyers Guide". Market Research Society. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ "Cataloguing Update: The Mark Abrams Papers – Churchill College". www.chu.cam.ac.uk. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "Reference document – Ipsos 2018" (PDF). Ipsos. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2020.
- ^ Rupert Jones (15 June 2005). "Sir Bob quits Mori chairmanship". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ Julia Day (10 October 2005). "French rival snaps up Mori". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Ipsos MORI". IQCS.
- ^ "Approached by us: Telephone". Ipsos MORI. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ Kerbaj, Richard; Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (12 May 2013). "Switch on and you become a goldmine". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ Kerbaj, Richard; Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (12 May 2013). "Secrets of 27m mobile phones offered to police". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ Pete Swabey (13 May 2013). "EE and Ipsos MORI face privacy backlash over mobile data analysis". Information Age. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ "Ipsos MORI response to the Sunday Times". Ipsos MORI. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Recent Research Archived 2017-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Ipsos Global Website Archived 2017-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
Ipsos MORI
View on GrokipediaHistory
Founding and Early Expansion
Market & Opinion Research International (MORI) was established in 1969 by Robert Worcester, an American-born market researcher who had relocated to the United Kingdom.[8] Worcester, initially serving as chief financial officer at Opinion Research Corporation in the US, founded the firm to conduct opinion polling and market research, drawing on his experience in quantitative analysis.[9] By 1973, Worcester had acquired majority ownership, solidifying his control and enabling focused expansion into political and social surveys.[10] In its early years, MORI differentiated itself through rigorous methodologies and timely publication of poll results in newspapers, establishing contracts with media outlets and political parties.[11] The firm conducted surveys for the Labour Party as early as 1970, providing data that informed campaign strategies under Prime Minister Harold Wilson.[12] This political engagement, combined with commercial market research, fueled rapid growth; by the mid-1970s, MORI had become one of the UK's prominent polling organizations, known for its snappy analysis and reliability in capturing public sentiment.[9] Expansion in the late 1970s included regular tracking of key issues, such as public views on European Economic Community membership starting in 1977, which helped build MORI's reputation for long-term trend analysis.[13] The company also launched British Public Opinion in 1979, a periodical disseminating aggregated polling data to academics and policymakers, further embedding MORI in public discourse.[14] These developments positioned MORI as a respected independent voice amid a competitive field of pollsters, with Worcester's personal involvement in advising governments enhancing its credibility.[10]Acquisition by Ipsos and Integration
In October 2005, Ipsos, a French market research firm, acquired MORI, a prominent British polling and research company, for £88 million.[15][16][17] The deal, announced on October 10, positioned the combined entity as the third-largest market research group globally and nearly doubled Ipsos's UK revenue.[17][18] MORI, originally founded in 1969 by Sir Robert Worcester as a joint venture involving ORC and NOP, brought established expertise in opinion polling and social research to Ipsos's portfolio.[1] Post-acquisition, the merged operations were rebranded as Ipsos MORI, integrating MORI's UK-focused capabilities with Ipsos's international network to form a unified subsidiary.[16][18] Ben Page, previously with MORI, assumed the role of CEO for Ipsos MORI, overseeing the consolidation of teams and methodologies.[1] The integration emphasized synergies in opinion and social research, which doubled in scale within the group by 2007, driven by organic growth alongside the acquisition's contributions.[19] By 2006, the process had bolstered Ipsos's European expansion, particularly in the UK and Ireland, with reported positive impacts on revenue and operational efficiency from the MORI merger.[20] Key MORI executives, including Sir Robert Worcester, received approximately £5 million in Ipsos shares as incentives to ensure continuity in leadership and client relationships during the transition.[17] This acquisition marked a strategic enhancement of Ipsos's polling prowess without reported major disruptions, aligning MORI's data-driven traditions with Ipsos's global standards for multi-country research.[20]Developments Since 2010
In 2011, Ipsos acquired Synovate, a major global market research firm, leading to integrated operations that enhanced Ipsos MORI's access to advanced analytics and expanded datasets for UK clients.[1] This merger positioned the UK arm among the leading research entities, with subsequent launches such as the SMX social media practice in 2013 to address emerging digital trends in public opinion tracking.[1] By 2015, Ipsos MORI introduced Ipsos Connect, an integrated solution for cross-media audience measurement combining TV, online, and out-of-home data, repositioning its advertising and media divisions for greater efficiency.[1] The same year, it acquired RDA Research, specializing in automotive quality assessments, and relocated its London headquarters to 3 Thomas More Square to support expanded operations.[1] These steps reflected a strategic emphasis on sector-specific expertise and infrastructural modernization under long-serving CEO Ben Page, who had led the UK business since 2009.[21] Leadership transitioned in November 2021, with Kelly Beaver appointed CEO of Ipsos UK and Ireland, succeeding Page as he assumed the global CEO role until his departure in September 2025.[22] In February 2022, the firm rebranded from Ipsos MORI to simply Ipsos, unifying its identity with the parent company's global operations and marking the end of the MORI designation after 17 years.[23] This evolution maintained Ipsos UK's focus on high-profile public sector contracts and proprietary indices like the Issues Index, while leveraging Ipsos' worldwide network for methodological innovations.[24]Organizational Structure
Ownership and Global Position
Ipsos MORI UK Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ipsos SA, a French multinational market research and consulting firm headquartered in Paris.[18] Ipsos acquired MORI, the UK's largest independent market research agency at the time, in October 2005 for £88 million, leading to the formation of Ipsos MORI as the integrated UK entity focused on public opinion polling and social research.[18] This acquisition expanded Ipsos's footprint in the UK, where Ipsos MORI now handles domestic operations including government contracts, media surveys, and election polling. Ipsos SA itself was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot and has been publicly traded on the Euronext Paris stock exchange since July 1, 1999.[25] As of recent filings, ownership is diversified, with founder Didier Truchot holding approximately 12.08% of shares, followed by institutional investors such as BPIFrance Investissement SAS at 5.76% and Mawer Investment Management Ltd. at around 4.94%; the general public owns about 37%.[25] This public structure subjects Ipsos to market oversight, with no single entity exerting majority control. Globally, Ipsos ranks among the top market research firms, placing seventh worldwide by research revenue as of 2024 data.[26] The company employs around 20,000 people across 90 countries and territories, operating over 100 offices and generating approximately €2.44 billion in revenue in 2024, with segments including consumer insights, public affairs, and healthcare research.[27] [28] Ipsos MORI contributes to this network as the specialized UK division, leveraging Ipsos's international resources for cross-border projects while maintaining a focus on British public sector and electoral analysis.[26]Leadership and Operations
Ipsos MORI, operating as the UK division of the global Ipsos group, is led in the UK and Ireland by Kelly Beaver as Chief Executive Officer, who oversees regional strategy, client relations, and research operations. Beaver, appointed to the role following a period of internal leadership transitions, brings extensive experience in market research and public opinion analysis, having previously served in senior positions within Ipsos focused on consumer insights and brand tracking.[29][30] At the global level, Ipsos is directed by Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Poitou, appointed effective September 15, 2025, succeeding Ben Page, who had led the company since 2015 after joining the predecessor MORI organization in 1987 as a trainee researcher. Poitou, with over 30 years in the industry, emphasizes integration of data analytics and AI in research methodologies to enhance predictive accuracy.[31][32] The UK leadership team includes specialized directors such as Gideon Skinner, who heads political and social research, ensuring continuity in Ipsos MORI's longstanding focus on election polling and policy evaluation. This structure supports operational agility, with senior executives drawn from research backgrounds to maintain methodological rigor in client engagements. Page's departure marked the end of an era defined by expansion through acquisitions and technological upgrades, during which Ipsos UK grew its portfolio in government contracts and media analytics.[33][21] Operationally, Ipsos MORI functions as a hub for public opinion polling, social research, and custom client studies within the UK, leveraging a network of offices including its headquarters at 3 Thomas More Square in London, as well as facilities in Harrow, Edinburgh, and Belfast. These locations facilitate data collection through mixed-mode surveys, including telephone, online panels, and face-to-face interviews, supported by proprietary tools for real-time analysis. The division employs hundreds of researchers and fieldworkers, prioritizing quality controls such as random sampling and response rate monitoring to align with industry standards set by bodies like the Market Research Society. Globally integrated operations allow resource sharing, such as access to Ipsos's international panel of over 1 million respondents, enabling cross-border comparative studies while maintaining UK-specific adaptations for cultural and regulatory contexts.[34][33]Methodology
Polling Techniques and Data Collection
Ipsos MORI utilizes a range of data collection modes tailored to research objectives, including face-to-face interviews, telephone surveys, and online panels, with probability-based sampling preferred for high-stakes political polling to enhance representativeness.[35] For voting intention polls in Great Britain, the firm predominantly employs telephone quota sampling, drawing from landline numbers generated via random digit dialing (RDD) and mobile numbers from opted-in research panels.[36] This approach, updated as of June 2024, targets adults aged 18 and over, excluding those in institutions like prisons or long-term care.[36] Sampling follows a multi-stage process to approximate the electorate. Initially, geographic sampling points—such as wards—are selected randomly across regions to reflect population distribution, with approximately 150 points used in standard polls.[37] Within these points, quotas are imposed based on census-derived benchmarks for age, gender, working status, social grade, and ethnicity to mirror national demographics without full random selection, which can yield low response rates in modern contexts.[36] Face-to-face surveys, historically central to Ipsos MORI's methodology, apply similar quota controls after random household selection via address lists or RDD, with interviewer-administered questionnaires ensuring consistency.[38] Sample sizes typically range from 1,000 to 2,000 respondents for national political trackers, achieving margins of error around ±3% at 95% confidence.[36] Data collection emphasizes trained interviewers using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) for phone surveys or computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) for in-person work, standardizing question delivery and capturing responses in real-time to reduce biases like acquiescence or order effects.[35] Questions for voting intention follow established formats, such as the two-part query on party preference and likelihood to vote, without proprietary "black box" adjustments during fieldwork.[38] Response rates, though declining industry-wide, are monitored, with non-response addressed through quota fulfillment rather than extensive callbacks, reflecting practical trade-offs in quota designs over pure probability samples.[36] For specialized studies like exit polls, teams conduct brief face-to-face intercepts at over 130 polling stations on election day, targeting a quota-sampled subset of voters immediately post-ballot to capture actual behavior.[39]Weighting, Analysis, and Quality Controls
Ipsos MORI, operating as Ipsos UK, employs rim-weighting techniques to adjust survey samples for representativeness, aligning data with benchmarks from the 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates, and large-scale probability surveys. This process corrects for non-response biases and quota deviations by simultaneously weighting multiple variables, including age, gender, work status, ethnicity, presence of a car in the household, social grade (based on the occupation of the chief income earner), work sector (e.g., public vs. private), region, housing tenure, newspaper readership, and educational qualifications.[36] Weighting schemes are updated periodically to incorporate the latest demographic data, such as post-2019 adjustments reflecting shifts in population profiles.[36] In political polling, which forms a core of Ipsos MORI's output, data collection relies on telephone quota sampling using random digit dialling for landlines and database-sourced mobile numbers, targeting Great Britain residents aged 18 and over. Quotas are imposed during fieldwork on key demographics—gender, age, region, work status, ethnicity, and educational qualifications—to mirror population distributions and mitigate sampling errors from the outset.[36] Analysis incorporates a multi-stage voting intention protocol: an initial prompted question listing major parties (e.g., Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru), followed by an unprompted "squeeze" query for remaining undecided respondents, and application of a turnout filter based on self-reported likelihood to vote (9/10 or higher certain) combined with recalled past voting behavior. This filter is refined closer to elections to account for varying engagement levels.[36] Quality controls emphasize methodological rigor and transparency, with Ipsos holding certifications under ISO 20252 (market, opinion, and social research), ISO 9001 (quality management), and ISO 27001 (information security), alongside adherence to the Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partnership Scheme.[40] All published polls comply with British Polling Council standards, disclosing full question wording, sample size (typically 1,000–2,000 respondents), sampling method, fieldwork dates, and weighting details within two days of release; senior oversight via a Polls for Publication group reviews outputs for accuracy.[40] Continuous evaluation through Ipsos's Research Methods Centre assesses technique efficacy, including propensity score adjustments for non-probability elements in hybrid surveys, while staff undergo specialized training to uphold data integrity from design to delivery.[35] These measures address common polling challenges like differential non-response, though Ipsos acknowledges limitations in quota-based approaches compared to pure probability sampling.[35]Polling Record
Accurate Predictions and Achievements
Ipsos MORI demonstrated notable accuracy in the 2010 UK general election, with its final poll projecting a hung parliament that aligned with the outcome, where no single party secured a majority. The poll estimated Conservative support at 39%, Labour at 28%, and Liberal Democrats at 23%, compared to actual results of 36.1%, 29.0%, and 23.0%, respectively, reflecting close alignment on vote shares despite a slight overestimation of Conservative strength.[41][42] In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Ipsos MORI's polling consistently showed a lead for the No campaign, with late surveys indicating a margin around 52% No to 48% Yes, which correctly anticipated the decisive rejection of independence. The actual result was 55.3% No and 44.7% Yes, validating the firm's directional forecast amid a field of polls that varied in closeness.[43][44] The 2019 UK general election further highlighted Ipsos MORI's predictive strength, as its final poll forecasted Conservative support at 43%, Labour at 34%, Liberal Democrats at 11%, and others aligning closely with outcomes of 43.6%, 32.1%, and 11.5%, respectively, contributing to the consensus among pollsters that accurately anticipated a Conservative majority.[45] In the 2024 UK general election, Ipsos's final poll (conducted as Ipsos post-MORI integration) predicted a large Labour majority, a collapse in Conservative vote share to around 22%, and Reform UK at 15%, mirroring the actual Labour landslide (33.7% vote share, 412 seats), Conservative decline to 23.7% and 121 seats, and Reform's 14.3% share with 14 seats, despite some overestimation of Labour's margin.[46][47]| Election/Referendum | Ipsos MORI Final Projection (Key Shares) | Actual Results (Key Shares) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 UK General | Con 39%, Lab 28%, LD 23% | Con 36.1%, Lab 29%, LD 23% |
| 2014 Scottish Ref. | No ~52%, Yes ~48% | No 55.3%, Yes 44.7% |
| 2019 UK General | Con 43%, Lab 34%, LD 11% | Con 43.6%, Lab 32.1%, LD 11.5% |
| 2024 UK General | Lab 39%, Con 22%, Ref 15% | Lab 33.7%, Con 23.7%, Ref 14.3% |
