Illuminating
market
research
We’re a market research agency delivering illuminating insights that create meaningful impact. We help you navigate every step of your research journey so you can uncover those Eureka! moments that build stronger connections with your customers, sharpen your competitive advantage, and ultimately drive sustained business growth.
Illuminating market research
We’re a market research agency delivering illuminating insights that create meaningful impact. We help you navigate every step of your research journey so you can uncover those Eureka! moments that build stronger connections with your customers, sharpen your competitive advantage, and ultimately drive sustained business growth.
Expertise:
Home improvements
We have extensive experience across a broad range of sectors, but our true speciality lies in the home interest space. Since 2016, we’ve collaborated with leading brands including Taylor Wimpey, Dulux Trade, Wolseley, Polypipe, and Mira Showers, delivering clear, actionable insight that informs smarter product development, sharper marketing strategies, and more effective project plans.
We have our own growing community of tradespeople, Voice of the Trade, who we can call on for quick polls and focus groups, and we regularly publish our own free research reports on the sector, which you can download on our website.
Work
We love research assignments that have a clear and tangible business objective.
TrustMark
TrustMark commissioned in‑depth research to spotlight the growing skills crisis in the UK’s repair, maintenance and improvement sector and its wider impact on housing and sustainability targets.
Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey is a leading UK housebuilder delivering around 15,000 homes a year, and with continued government support, the residential construction sector is set to keep growing.
Polypipe
Omnichannel competitors have transformed the Plumbing & Heating sector with digital strength, convenience and sharp pricing, increasingly challenging traditional merchants.
Work
We love research assignments that have a clear and tangible business objective.
TrustMark
TrustMark commissioned in‑depth research to spotlight the growing skills crisis in the UK’s repair, maintenance and improvement sector and its wider impact on housing and sustainability targets.
Taylor Wimpey
Taylor Wimpey is a leading UK housebuilder delivering around 15,000 homes a year, and with continued government support, the residential construction sector is set to keep growing.
Polypipe
Omnichannel competitors have transformed the Plumbing & Heating sector with digital strength, convenience and sharp pricing, increasingly challenging traditional merchants.
Free research reports
We undertake pro bono research in the categories we are most passionate about and make this available here, completely free of charge! We allow our users to access without such hindrances but with the simple request that you get in touch if the findings resonate with you or that it might influence your own plans for market research in the future.
Sustainable housing report 2025
Skills gap research (with Trustmark)
Focus
We focus on insights rooted in real-world expertise across home improvement and construction, from structural work to finishing trades.
Bathrooms
Homeowners are continuing to invest heavily in home improvements—particularly kitchens and bathrooms—driving a dynamic market in which brands and retailers increasingly rely on our research to understand changing consumer needs and renovation behaviours… read more
Painting and decorating
The UK homeowner is still obsessed with DIY and so are we! The sector is in a state of flux, with market disruptors challenging the status quo. Some of the traditional ‘giants’ in the DIY industry have been struggling to keep up with evolving consumer tastes and channel behaviour… read more
Home improvements
The UK home improvement market is rapidly evolving, and we help brands, retailers, and trade professionals understand changing consumer behaviours and industry dynamics… read more
Plumbing and heating
If you want the most reliable, real‑time insight into the plumbing and heating market from an installer’s perspective, you’re in the right place… read more
Construction
It’s a pivotal moment for UK construction and house building, and we help the industry make sense of shifting market pressures, future uncertainties, and evolving expectations across the entire supply chain… read more
Merchants
The traditional trade counter is facing unprecedented pressure as digital channels, omnichannel formats, and evolving customer expectations reshape how merchants must operate… read more
Focus
We focus on insights rooted in real-world expertise across home improvement and construction, from structural work to finishing trades.
Bathrooms
Homeowners are continuing to invest heavily in home improvements—particularly kitchens and bathrooms—driving a dynamic market in which brands and retailers increasingly rely on our research to understand changing consumer needs and renovation behaviours... read more
Painting and decorating
The UK homeowner is still obsessed with DIY and so are we! The sector is in a state of flux, with market disruptors challenging the status quo. Some of the traditional ‘giants’ in the DIY industry have been struggling to keep up with evolving consumer tastes and channel behaviour... read more
Home improvements
The UK home improvement market is rapidly evolving, and we help brands, retailers, and trade professionals understand changing consumer behaviours and industry dynamics... read more
Plumbing and heating
If you want the most reliable, real‑time insight into the plumbing and heating market from an installer’s perspective, you’re in the right place... read more
Construction
It’s a pivotal moment for UK construction and house building, and we help the industry make sense of shifting market pressures, future uncertainties, and evolving expectations across the entire supply chain... read more
Merchants
The traditional trade counter is facing unprecedented pressure as digital channels, omnichannel formats, and evolving customer expectations reshape how merchants must operate... read more
Listening to the trade
We’ve built a robust community of sole traders, contractors, and small businesses on Voice of the Trade (VOTT)—our proprietary community of trade professionals. It gives our clients quick access to a diverse range of dedicated trade business professionals across the UK. Engaged, focused, and consistently responsive, we gather insights from electricians, plumbers, multi traders, and even specialist renewables experts.
Benchmarking
One of the added benefits for our clients is access to our unique VOTT norms database. With a rich portfolio of projects across the UK trade sector over many years, we’ve asked similar questions across multiple audiences. This allows us to benchmark your performance against our unique set of sector‑specific norms, added depth and value that no other market research business will be able to offer.
We love a good chat!
No pressure, no jargon—just a proper conversation about what you’re working on, what you’re trying to understand, and whether research could help move things forward.