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Archive for the ‘Growth’ Category« Previous EntriesB2B International posts its best ever start-of-year figuresWednesday, May 1st, 2013  Hot on the heels of its best ever year for growth in 2012, when turnover expanded by 28% to £5.1 million, business-to-business market research and business intelligence agency B2B International is setting more records. The company’s rapid growth has continued apace in Quarter 1 2013, posting its best ever start-of-year figures. Revenue surpassed £1.7m, a huge 108% increase year-on-year. The quarter was also the second best quarter in the company’s history, after the £1.9m achieved in Q4 2012. Since its formation in 1998, B2B International has continued its record of growing its revenue and making a profit for 15 consecutive years. CEO Matthew Harrison explains, “It is hard to single out highlights from these results as revenue in the UK, US and Asia-Pacific all increased by over 100% on Q1 of 2012. In addition, our medical division has seen enormous growth since summer 2012, and the proportion of our revenue represented by ongoing contracts rather than ad-hoc work has increased fivefold in less than 2 years.” The company, whose main offices are located in Manchester, London, New York and Beijing, has aggressive plans to continue its rapid expansion. In the past year it has doubled the size of its data processing department and continues its recruitment drive for high calibre graduate research analysts. A Construction BoomThursday, February 7th, 2013  It would seem that the North American construction sector is experiencing something of an upswing. Indeed, a recent article in USA Today (“Construction industry faces worker shortage”, November 28, 2012) explains that, after shedding 2.2 million workers over the previous four years, contractors are now struggling with worker shortages as the home-building market comes to life and some commercial sectors strengthen. This is backed up by figures from the United States Census Bureau, showing that total monthly construction spending in the U.S. reached its highest levels for three years in October 2012 ($868,215m). The current moderate upswing in activity has been borne out by increased construction sector activity across B2B International’s U.S. operations. According to New York-based Director Julia Cupman: “Throughout the course of 2012, we noticed a steady but marked increase in research proposals and commissions for market research across all areas of construction. While our work across wide-ranging industry sectors often enables us to pick out particular industry trends and patterns, I believe this particular uplift is a positive sign of a strengthening economy at large.” With fears raised in the UK last week of Britain heading into a triple-dip recession, let’s hope the U.S. construction sector upswing is indicative of good news for the global economy. You can find out more about our construction market research services here. B2B International records its best ever yearMonday, February 4th, 2013 Another exceedingly strong year of growth for international business-to-business market research and market intelligence specialists B2B International experienced its best ever year for growth in 2012, its turnover expanding by 28% to £5.1 million. Since its formation in 1998, the company continues its record of growing its revenue and making a profit for 15 consecutive years. CEO Matthew Harrison explains, “We placed a huge emphasis on close collaboration with our larger accounts during 2012, with a doubling in the number of clients commissioning research worth £100,000 or more.” Growth was particularly strong in North America, with revenue increasing by a huge 68% during the year. In Europe (including UK), revenue grew by over 25% for the second consecutive year. Harrison adds “the fact that we are firmly established in three continents has been crucial for us, as most of our largest projects are multinational in nature.” In keeping with its rapid revenue growth, B2B International’s workforce also continues to grow, with eight new members added to the analytics team in the past year alone. Free, new e-book: Advice on growing businessesWednesday, January 30th, 2013  A brand new e-book has just appeared on our website: The Growing Business Handbook (14th Edition) offers inspiration and advice from successful entrepreneurs and fast-growing companies. This practical source of advice and reference is chock full of interesting articles which highlight the latest ideas, techniques and solutions for maximising growth, exploiting and protecting ideas and innovation, and controlling risks. To make it more digestible, we’ve split the 40 or so individual articles into 10 bite-sized chapters… or, for those who are really keen, you can read the entire book in one go! Click here to check it out.. Taking Your Brand To ChinaMonday, January 28th, 2013  We read with interest a recent article in Marketing Week outlining ‘5 lessons for brands looking east to China’. This is a subject close to our heart, of course, and one on which we have written extensively in the past. With China still a vitally important country for many Western organisations – among them a number of our clients – we thought this article might be of interest to you today. Taken from an event co-hosted by WPP Group and UK Trade & Investment, below are five considerations for Western brands with an eye on China’s potential: 1: Appreciate the value of branding China is “under-branded and under-advertised”, but appreciation of brand building appears to be growing. Brands that invest in this area can prosper amongst China’s burgeoning middle classes, and the top CEOs of Chinese businesses are beginning to recognise that “brand building is the future”. 2: Think not what China can do for your business, but what you can do for China China has established a series of ambitions for its own economy; these include being less reliant on exporting, and increasing domestic consumption. Many Chinese businesses are, therefore, looking for ways to move up the value chain. With this in mind, British brands that can demonstrate how they can help drive this shift in China’s economy, and help businesses move up the value chain, will do well. 3: Trust and meaningful differentiation China has something of a reputation for counterfeit products, meaning brands that can offer reassurance and deliver on their promises will rapidly gain the trust of Chinese consumers. The ability for brands to build up trust in China is likely to be a differentiating and “deciding factor” for brands’ success in coming years. 4: Explore the hinterlands China’s top tier cities have obvious appeal for international brands but they are not where the current growth is. Brands that are looking to do business in China should look beyond these saturated markets to the tier two (and tier three) cities of China. These are the areas where government is prioritising growth. 5: Understand consumer psyche and appreciate cultural differences China is a unique country, and understanding its history and its culture is “fundamental” for Western businesses to successfully engage with its consumers. Brands must embrace the practices in China rather than attempting to force new approaches. • Please click here to see some of our papers and articles on entering China (and other international markets). • You can read the Marketing Week article in full here. « Previous Entries |
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