Verian

Verian is an independent research, evidence, evaluation, and communications agency, headquartered in Millbank, London, UK. It has offices in continental Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands), the Asia–Pacific (Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore), and US. Verian conducts social research, program evaluation, and media analysis for governments, local communities, interest groups, trade unions, NGOs, and private sector organisations. British Politics and Policy, a blog run by the London School of Economics (LSE), evaluated Verian's (then known as TNS BMRB) polling on the run up to the 2016 UK Brexit referendum; Verian was one of a minority to correctly forecast the result and had the lowest bias. Verian's opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election also came closest to the final result.

Partial timeline

 * 1933: British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) was founded as the market research arm of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.
 * 1987: WPP acquired JWT group, owner of J. Walter Thompson and BMRB.
 * 1992: WPP founded Kantar Group.
 * 2000: Svenska institutet för opinionsundersökningar (Sifo) acquired by Kantar.
 * 2008: Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) acquired by Kantar.
 * 2009: BMRB Social Research and TNS Social Research integrated to become TNS BMRB.
 * 2016: Kantar Public launched, bringing together Kantar's government and public sector teams including TNS BMRB.
 * 2017: Kantar Public opened an office in Singapore.
 * 2021: Colmar Brunton merged with Kantar, with some staff moving to Kantar Public.
 * 2022: Kantar Public sold to private equity firm Trilantic Europe.
 * 2023: PPMI, a European policy research and consultancy company, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, acquired by Kantar Public.
 * 2023: Kantar Public rebranded Verian.

Example work

 * Voice of Ukraine: A longitudinal survey of migration paths, needs, and expectations of Ukrainians displaced by war. So far there have been over 6,500 respondents across six waves of research.


 * Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study: The largest longitudinal study of its kind in the world, covering around 27,000 households in the UK annually. Verian (and its predecessor, Kantar Public) has led delivery of the study since 2012.


 * Public voice: A digital random probability panel established in 2019 that is available in UK, Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Czechia and Luxembourg. This panel was used for opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.


 * Crime Survey for England and Wales: Conducted by Verian on behalf of the Office for National Statistics. In 2024/25, around 75,000 households will be invited take part.


 * Evaluation of the Safer Streets Fund: An evaluation of the impact of funding for situational interventions aimed at preventing acquisitive crime, conducted by Verian on behalf of the Home Office.


 * UK COVID-19 Inquiry: Verian was appointed in 2024 to conduct a large-scale qualitative research project to investigate the experiences of children and young people.


 * Making Tax Digital: Early impact on VAT below threshold customers: Research funded by HM Revenue and Customs to understand how businesses below the £85,000 VAT threshold adapted to requirements to keep digital records; use software that works with Making Tax Digital; and submit updates every quarter.


 * Does proactively asking about allergens before ordering improve customer outcomes? (2023): A cluster-randomised trial of the effects of proactively asking customers about food hypersensitivity, including 936 customers at 18 outlets, funded by Food Standards Agency.


 * Quantum Technologies Public Dialogue Report: Funded by EPSRC, this research explored the general public's views and values in relation to quantum technologies. It was announced in May 2024 that Verian will repeat the research, with a survey of around 1,000 participants and workshops with 40.