MRBA Chairman Ian Brace’s report to the AGM.  “I was delighted at the recent AGM to be able to report on the success of the MRBA Skills initiative which was launched at the end of last year and this summer has had its first six applicants for help, five of whom we were able to support.

“This support is financial support for the cost of taking the MRS Advanced Certificate, for both entry and training costs, for people who would otherwise struggle to be able to afford it.  We are very pleased with the positive start to this initiative and will be monitoring closely to see if it can be extended to other qualifications related to market research.

“The launch of MRBA Skills has incurred some significant one-off costs in the financial year 2018-19 in setting up and marketing it.  This has contributed to an expenditure of £89,580 in the year, slightly higher than the £88,437 in the previous year.  However, our income was lower this year, at £34,221, as there was no MRBA Week or Fortieth Anniversary both of which contributed income in the previous year.

“Our strategy is to reduce our reserves through initiatives such as MRBA Skills, and these fell by £30,408 this year to £496,834. Another part of our strategy is to be more generous in providing life-changing support to the UK field force as well as researchers who present themselves.   In this financial year we gave grants and loans totalling £33,698, up 20% on the previous year, which was itself up significantly on the year before, so we are continuing to make progress with that too.

“During the course of the year, we have also had to cope with the resignation of investment advisors UBS, who have been replaced by ESJ Financial Planning, and the on-going implementation of GDPR policies.

“All in all, I think that we can be happy with the performance of the past year which is on strategy and has marked a real milestone with the launch of MRBA Skills.

“I must thank all of those involved with the Association, but must particularly mention the Regional Managers, who interview and oversee the cases, without whom we would not be able to function.”

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