Leveraging the innovation eco-system for global success

From ambitious start-up to global leader, The Insights Family’s incredible 
journey provides lessons for any business in Greater Manchester that wants 
to fulfil its goals.

If research, data and insights are business-critical for you, chances are you’ve heard of The Insights Family. Based in central Manchester, the real-time market intelligence company was founded in 2016 and has grown into a global leader, counting companies such as Amazon, Disney, Hasbro and Warner Bros amongst its clients.

From start-up to securing a £5.6million investment round in less than eight years, it’s a story of continuous and successful innovation and collaboration, and one we are proud to have supported.

“GM Business Growth Hub has been a huge part of The Insights Family’s journey almost from day one,” says founder Nick Richardson. “Without their support, guidance, counsel and introductions, there is no way we would have achieved what we have.”

Read on to see how our specialists helped unlock transformative support from Greater Manchester’s innovation eco-system.

GM Business Growth Hub’s impact in stats

✅  60 jobs created
✅  £100,000 co-angel investment

Challenge #1: Scaling up the business 

The Insights Family was a small team of three when Nick made the pivotal decision to give us a call: “I knew we needed support, so I got in touch with the Innovation team and it turned out to be one of my best ever moves,” he says.

Dharma Nurse, Delivery Manager at GM Business Growth Hub, picks up the story: “It was clear after speaking with Nick, and listening to his situation and ambitions, that the company could benefit from our assistance.

“He was introduced very early on to our funding experts and was subsequently shortlisted as a finalist in our Innovation Showcase Competition 2017. And, as a result of The Insights Family’s pitch, they received a six-figure investment from a local angel investor.

“Once we learnt about Nick’s plans to grow internationally, we also introduced him to the Department for International Trade. This led to the business receiving a grant for a trip to Miami, which resulted in Nick closing a further six-figure investment and a guarantee of £100,000 of revenue for their US venture in year one.”

This initial success laid the foundation for more strategic support.

Dharma says, “Their business vision was highly scalable and there was a significant opportunity to use data science to create clear differentiation. We identified that a collaboration with a university to unlock data science capability on their propriety data set would be a game-changer.”

The plan would include psychometric clustering algorithms, market segmentation and developing a wider data science roadmap, which the company would proactively embrace to drive efficiency, quality control and value to clients.

But such a project would require complex data modelling and detailed development. The next step was to determine the best way of progressing the idea from concept to market. 

Challenge #2: Unlocking specialist R&D support

Dharma says, “The predicament lent itself perfectly to a Knowledge Transfer Partnership,  which would not only provide the knowhow and technology required, but also equip the company with capabilities that would benefit it long after the project ended.

“We have an incredible network of support to draw on at GM Business Growth Hub, and this enabled us to introduce Nick to computing and psychology academics at Manchester Metropolitan University who had the right expertise.”

There was only one problem: how does a start-up that has limited turnover demonstrate the business case needed for a successful KTP application?

“We introduced Nick to a specialist KTP bid writer. The business case we developed was based on future turnover from contracts secured with existing and new clients, and estimated burn rate on the investment,” Dharma explains.

The bid was successful and a 28-month KTP began, though the benefits were far wider says Nick: “The KTP discussions opened my eyes to the possibilities that data science and AI could bring. We decided not to only go with the KTP, but to also offer one of the KTP dedicated specialists a full-time role and hire an undergraduate data scientist on a year’s placement. All of this contributed to the significant growth for the company, which now employs more than 50 people and has a presence in 22 countries.” 

Our Innovation team supported The Insights Family throughout the KTP, playing an invaluable role says Nick: “Universities are quite complex in nature, but GM Business Growth Hub accelerated some of the processes. It has helped us forge stronger links with all Greater Manchester’s universities and I’m proud that a significant percentage of our team are graduates from the local universities.”

As part of its ongoing growth, the company began its second KTP in 2023, bringing the latest academic theory and techniques to its customer relationship management, key account management, and innovative market strategies.

“GM Business Growth Hub has been a huge part of The Insights Family’s journey almost from day one,” says Nick. “Without their support, guidance, counsel and introductions, there is no way we would have achieved what we have.”

Challenge #3: Leveraging further support from the innovation eco-system

Emphasising the scale of resources that businesses in Greater Manchester can tap into, the company has also received wider support from:

• Innovation Grant Funding
• Mentoring and Executive Development
• The Global Scale-Up programme (now Create Growth)
• MMU’s Graduate Recruitment Fund 
• SODA (MMU’s School of Digital Arts)
• The Greater Manchester AI Foundry
• Peer Networks
• University of Salford Cyber Security 
• University of Bolton product development and innovation
• Department for International Trade’s Tradeshow Access Programme grants and support with local offices in US, Singapore and Germany
• Intellectual Property Office

Nick adds, “I’ve said before that I don't think we could have launched our business in any other city than Manchester. When you compare it to other places in Europe and even globally, talent, property and so on is still very cost-effective.

“There are world leading universities here creating incredible graduates across a really wide range of skill sets and the whole eco-system we have is very rare. But while there’s a lot of support available, making sense of it isn’t easy. GM Business Growth Hub plays a crucial role in simplifying things, making introductions to the right people, and signposting opportunities.

“It’s government and local authority funded, which means that time, money, and commerciality isn’t an agenda in the same way it is for other consultants and service providers. The only thing they are trying to do is help you make the right decisions for your business.”

Find your pathway to commercial opportunities

The Insights Family continues to go from strength to strength, winning a string of awards along the way. These include ‘Best B2B Project’ at the Big Chip Awards in 2018, International Trade Council’s ‘Global Market Research Company of the Year’ in 2019, and top slot in BusinessCloud’s ‘MarTech 50’ innovation ranking for 2023. 

In recognition of his innovation successes, Nick also received an Honorary Doctorate for Innovation from the University of Bolton in 2022, was shortlisted as a regional finalist for the coveted EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2024 and has even joined the GM Business Growth team as a mentor and ambassador on our Innovation Navigator programme.

The company released its highly anticipated Industry Impact 2024 Report in July 2024. To download a free copy, go to: go.theinsightsfamily.com/industry-impact-2024-report.

Do you have a great idea, but lack the knowledge, finance or connections to drive it forward? Get in touch with us today – we’re here for you, like we were here for The Insights Family.