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BMRA Members Vote It Away
The membership of the British Market Research Association (BMRA) has voted in favour of proposals to integrate its services into the Market Research Society (MRS), with effect from April 2006. The BMRA will cease to exist as of April Fools' Day.
Both the BMRA and MRS Councils gave the proposal initial approval in December 2005 (www.mrweb.com/drno/news4936.htm ). The decision was then put to a vote among the BMRA membership, and was carried by a majority of around two thirds: 62 out of 95 voting members were in favour.
In January, four members of the BMRA Council stood for election to the MRS body (www.mrweb.com/drno/news5027.htm ) ; and the MRS announced further success for its Company Partner Scheme (www.mrweb.com/drno/news4995.htm ), which has been seen as a key factor in making these merger talks more fruitful than the many held previously.
BMRA Chairman Ivor Stocker comments: 'We have been in discussions with the MRS over possible integration of services for several years - with the aim of providing one unified body to co-ordinate the UK market research sector and better serve the needs of our industry. The BMRA and MRS has long shared the remit of providing professional development opportunities to their members, and through this integration, our members will continue to benefit from the BMRA's gold standard services as well as accessing those offered by the MRS.
'Integration of services brings a unified training and development package and a cohesive programme of conference, awards and networking events. The proposal agreed by our members fully retains the culture and enthusiasm of the BMRA while conferring additional benefits which MRS, with its established brand and infrastructure and larger scale of operation, is well-placed to deliver. This move provides an opportunity to bring together individuals and companies from across the market research industry to share best practice and help drive the industry forward into a new era.'
The BMRA says members with queries should telephone 0207 566 3636. Its web site is at www.bmra.org.uk and the MRS is at www.mrs.org.uk
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