Ipsos-RSL Revealed As Winner Of New NRS Contract

Ipsos-RSL Ltd have been awarded the new National Research Surveys (NRS) contract, worth around £2.5m per year. The decision was made by the NRS board on 15 December to award the new contract, which runs from January to 2002 until December 2005, to the holders of the current contract on the grounds of the bid’s “technical excellence and competitive pricing”.

Ray Morgan, chairman of NRS Ltd, said, “All three submissions were of a very high technical standard and choosing the winner was not easy, but we were impressed by the eagerness of Ipsos-RSL to combine their considerable previous experience in readership research with the very latest developments in interview technology.”

Three companies responded to the competitive tender put out in July this year: along with Ipsos RSL were BMRB International and Taylor Nelson Sofres. The new contract will see the introduction of changes including double-screen lap top computers for interviews, using one screen for the interviewer and the other for the respondent. There will also be an expansion of the coverage of newspaper sections and specialist magazines (see MRG Evening Meeting- Future Perfect For The NRS?).

A separate award for the 2001 contract to study readership across time will be selected by the NRS board in February next year.

Ipsos-RSL: 020 8861 8000 NRS: 020 7632 2915

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