Chairman's Message

YouGov aims to discover what people think, and to find this out as fast, accurately and cost-effectively as possible. To achieve these objectives we have pioneered new kinds of research, using the internet.

When we opened for business, in 2000, internet research was in its infancy. It is now well established in a number of countries, and it is making its impact felt increasingly in media polling, social surveys and market research. YouGov is Britain's leading internet research company - indeed, it has become one of Britain's best known survey companies of any type.

As we have grown, so our horizons have widened. We now offer a range of services, from BrandIndex, which tracks the reputations of more than 1,000 brands daily, to YouGovStone, which taps into the thinking of more than 10,000 leaders in every section of British society.

We have also expanded internationally. YouGovSiraj, based in Dubai, serves the rapidly expanding economies of the Gulf and the rest of the Middle East. In July 2007, we acquired psychonomics, a business based in Cologne in Germany and in August 2007 we acquired the remaining 68% in Polimetrix, a US business bringing our holding up to 100% and also announced the acquisition of Zapera a business headquartered in Denmark with other offices in Sweden, Finland and Norway.

As a young company using new methods, we have naturally had to demonstrate our accuracy. We have done this repeatedly, in events ranging from national, regional and party elections to the first Pop Idol contest (where we defied conventional wisdom by predicting that Will Young would win - and by how much).

Our core mission will remain unchanged - but how and where we carry it out will continue to evolve. We intend to carry on as we started: as a pioneering company continually developing new and better ways to explore and understand public thinking.