A Newcastle-based insight agency has reported annual turnover exceeding £3 million and an 11% increase in profit after securing a series of major contract renewals and new client wins across the UK.
Explain Market Research, headquartered in Newcastle, has continued its growth trajectory after retaining several nationally significant utilities contracts while expanding its client base across energy, water and public sector organisations.
The business, which employs 80 people, including 40 people in its dedicated Telephone Insight Hub, and is an accredited Living Wage Employer, has grown from a North East success story into a trusted national research partner, working with organisations across a range of sectors to help them better understand customers, communities and stakeholders.
Together, the contracts involve approximately 14,000 customer surveys every month, providing critical insight that helps infrastructure operators understand customer experiences, improve services and meet regulatory requirements.
Alongside its utilities work, Explain has secured a new partnership with Ordnance Survey to support the development of an online community programme and has been appointed to the Northumbrian Water Group framework as the sector prepares for the next regulatory period, PR29.
The latest results mark another milestone for the North East-founded business, which has grown steadily over the past decade while maintaining its commitment to delivering nationally significant projects from the region.
Kim Davis, CEO of Explain Market Research, said:
“Passing the £3 million turnover mark and achieving this level of profit growth is a significant milestone for our team, but what we’re most proud of is how we’ve achieved it.
“We’ve built our reputation on delivering robust, human-centred insight that organisations can trust when making important decisions. Retaining major contracts through competitive tender processes demonstrates the confidence our clients have in both our people and our approach.
“At a time when many organisations are facing uncertainty, we’ve been able to continue investing in our people and creating skilled jobs here in the North East. More than 40 colleagues work within our Insight Hub, delivering research programmes that influence decision-making across some of the UK’s most important infrastructure providers.
“The North East has an incredible talent pool, and we’re proving that nationally important insight and research work can be delivered from Newcastle just as effectively as anywhere else in the country.”
The agency’s continued growth reflects increasing demand for high-quality customer insight across regulated industries, where organisations are under growing pressure to understand customer needs, demonstrate performance and make evidence-based decisions.
Explain works with organisations across utilities, infrastructure, health, public services and regulated sectors, combining quantitative research, qualitative insight, online communities and stakeholder engagement to help clients better understand the people they serve.
With a growing client portfolio and a number of long-term contract renewals secured, the business says it remains focused on sustainable growth, investment in talent and strengthening the North East’s reputation as a centre for research, data and insight excellence.
