The United Kingdom of Great Britain consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK has the second-largest economy and the second-largest population in Western Europe and is the second-largest research market in the world (after the USA).
As a result of the British empire, British culture remains globally influential, and English is the most widely spoken foreign language globally with over 1.5 billion speakers. English is considered the global language of business and travel. The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is also the defining point for the Prime Meridian, used to calculate modern time zones. The capital city of London is among the world’s leading financial and cultural centres.
The UK’s economy is heavily dominated by services, contributing 73% towards the nation’s GDP. Major areas of growth include human health (such as pharmaceutical companies like GSK and AstraZeneca) and finance and insurance (Prudential, Aviva, Barclays and Lloyds are all huge players).
For companies based in the USA and other English-speaking countries, the UK is a natural starting point for a European market research programme. FieldworkHub’s home city of London is by far the largest centre for face-to-face market research but we also run focus groups and other types of research in Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
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Focus groups bring together a small number of participants for a moderated discussion, either in person or online. They are particularly useful for exploring consumer attitudes, evaluating new concepts and understanding how people react to and build on one another’s ideas.
In-depth interviews (IDIs) involve a one-to-one conversation between a researcher and a participant. They are well suited to exploring complex decisions, personal experiences and sensitive subjects, particularly in B2B research or when specialist knowledge is required.
Ethnographic research involves observing people in their everyday environments, such as their homes, workplaces or shops. It is useful when researchers want to understand how products and services are used in practice, rather than relying solely on what participants say.
Online bulletin boards (OBBs) allow participants to complete research tasks and respond to questions over several days, at times that suit them. They are useful for diary-style research, gathering detailed reflections and exploring topics that benefit from considered rather than immediate responses.
Market research online communities (MROCs) bring participants together on a digital platform for ongoing research. Unlike shorter OBB studies, MROCs can cover multiple topics over weeks or months, making them useful for user engagement, innovation and tracking changing attitudes.
UX testing involves observing people as they use a website, app or digital product, often while completing specific tasks. It helps identify usability problems, understand why users encounter difficulties and evaluate prototypes or existing digital experiences.
Customer experience research examines how people interact with a brand, product or service across touchpoints. It can combine interviews, surveys, focus groups and other methods to understand satisfaction, identify frustrations and explore opportunities to improve the customer journey.
Video surveys ask participants to record short responses to research questions, usually using their smartphones. They can involve selfie videos, product demonstrations or narrated activities, making them useful when researchers want to capture reactions and experiences in participants’ own words.
Vox pops involve short video interviews that capture people’s immediate opinions and reactions, usually in public locations or remotely. They are particularly useful for gathering spontaneous feedback on familiar topics, products or brands and illustrating research findings with real voices.
Online surveys allow respondents to complete structured questionnaires on their computers or mobile devices. They are often the most efficient option for reaching larger samples, testing preferences and measuring attitudes when respondents can be recruited and surveyed remotely.
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) uses interviewers who follow a digital questionnaire and record responses during a telephone call. It is useful for reaching business professionals or other audiences who may be difficult to engage online, and for surveys with lots of open-ended questions.
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) involves an interviewer recording responses on a tablet or similar device during an in-person survey. It is useful for street intercepts, location-specific research and research where participants need to see or try a product before answering questions.
We recruited 13 IT security decision makers who worked for large companies to take part in a three-day OBB about external threat intelligence and digital risk protection solutions. Six of the participants were then invited to take part in triad interviews to explore some of the issues in more detail.
FieldworkHub arranged IDIs with individuals who have experienced harassment while travelling on trains in the UK. We recruited BAME, women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities, allowing them to share valuable insight into their experiences of travelling by train.
FieldworkHub recruited participants for two 90-minute in-person focus groups with voters in Grimsby, North Lincolnshire for a segment on Channel 4 News which was broadcast in March 2025. The first group consisted of older voters and the second group comprised lapsed voters of different ages.
Our client was working with a manufacturer of specialist nutrition products to help them develop marketing messages for dieticians and payers/commissioners working in oncology. We arranged an online focus group with oncology dieticians and a second group with payers/commissioners working in the National Health Service.
FieldworkHub organised IDIs with surgeons and hospital administrators from UK hospitals. We recruited a mix of individuals working in hospitals that currently use software applications and robotic products in their operating theatres, and those who don’t currently, but are interested in using them in the near future.
Our client, a UK-based communications agency that helps employers to attract and engage talent wanted to speak to business and strategy analysts to assist them in creating job descriptions for a financial services company. We were asked to recruit business and strategy analysts with varying levels of experience.
