 Research by the Pensions Policy Institute claims that around half of over 50’s will have to work longer in order to ensure they save enough to fund an adequate pension income in retirement.
This has opened my eyes further, to a part of my future, I previously hadn’t really given much thought to. With only 33%[1] of those working within the private sector contributing to a company pension scheme, I don’t think I’m in the minority.
Posted 30 April 2012 by Farzana Qadir, Senior Research Manager
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Having talked to numerous clients over the years about improving customer relationships it is interesting how some clients simply focus on making process/service improvements.
- How can we reduce the amount of time on hold?
- How can we improve staff knowledge?
- How can we improve complaint resolution?
To be fair you can understand why. A number of organisations have deeply ingrained a culture of six sigma, lean or have a customer satisfaction tracker or an NPS study which can focus the analysis solely on the rational measures.
Posted 2 March 2012 by Philip Brooks, Senior Associate Director
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Well whoever has said the financial services sector is dull now has to eat their words! For me it is a sector that, yes has a lot of challenges, but it is also a sector that promises change – and that’s what makes it interesting.
In the past couple of months the sector has been rocked by a couple of big ‘Platform Announcements’. Firstly, Virgin Money acquired Northern Rock and now the Co-operative has emerged as the preferred bidder to buy 632 branches from Lloyds TSB. There is no doubt that the sector is still suffering, just read the current addition of viewpoint. The real question is - Are the men in grey suits ready for the cure?
Posted 20 January 2012 by Philip Brooks, Senior Associate Director
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Last week it was agreed that Northern Rock will be sold to Virgin Money. Following the announcement we decided to place some questions on our Harris Poll to understand how consumers felt about the acquisition. The interim findings suggest that Virgin could be on to a winner, but they will not have it all their own way.
Posted 24 November 2011 by Philip Brooks, Senior Associate Director
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 This week I’m taking a brave step into the world of smart phones. Some (namely my web-designing brother) would have me feel like I’ve been living in the dark ages, but it got me thinking about the increasing buzz around mobile payments and being the slightly sceptical late adopter I am, how things might pan out.
Studies show around two-thirds of the population find the general concept of mobile payments appealing, but when it comes to the crunch, how eager will people be to take it up?
Posted 20 September 2011 by Tim Kitson, Senior Research Executive
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Having recently looked around for insurance as a consumer and been close to the subject as a researcher, it is clear that insurers still almost exclusively appeal to consumers with introductory offers which fall away after month 12 of a policy.
This type of offer may satisfy the insurer’s acquisition objectives, but potentially it encourages consumers to view the policy more as an easily transferable commodity rather than developing a relationship with the company.
Whilst encouraging consumers to think about a relationship which lasts more than one year carries some logic to the insurer, ‘loyalty’ (the buzz-word for companies not so long ago) amongst consumers has moved to the back seat within motor insurance and been stored in the loft in home insurance!
In the current economic climate, perhaps keeping the focus on acquisition and ensuring you are acquiring more than you lose is an understandable strategy, rather than changing tack and perhaps a more risky strategy focusing on retention based offers.
Posted 29 June 2011 by Mark Foran, Senior Research Manager
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 A recurring theme at this year's Building Societies Association conference, which was held earlier this month in Birmingham, was that the mutual sector is in a strong position to capitalise on the loss of trust in the banking sector that has occurred over the past few years.
Certainly this is something that we saw in recent research we conducted into consumers' perceptions of mutuals and which we presented at the conference
Posted 26 May 2011 by Frances Green, Research Director
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UK Banks recently lost a judicial review into FSA guidelines that banks should contact all past PPI customers inviting them to complain if they believe they have been mis-sold their policy.
Unsurprisingly, The British Bankers Association has said that the result is ‘disappointing’. However, say that to a consumer who has tried to claim on a PPI policy and then found out they were never covered in the first place. I am sure they will be able to provide a few other alternative descriptors.
Posted 4 May 2011 by Philip Brooks, Senior Associate Director
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Over the past 12 months we have conducted quite a bit of research into the perceptions of the financial services sector, where consumers consistently mention they want financial institutions to be honest, open and transparent. Basically, consumers want to be able to trust the financial organisations they deal with and to believe they have their best interests at heart...
Posted 19 January 2011 by Philip Brooks, Senior Associate Director
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Question: Which of these is the odd one out?
- Miss A takes her car to the garage. It’s been making some strange noises. The mechanic tells her the suspension arms are broken.
- It’s mid-December. Mr B has relatives staying for Christmas. Although the boiler is on, the hot taps are running cold. The boiler man delivers the damning verdict.
- Mr & Mrs C have been married a few years. They want to start saving for the future and make an appointment to see an IFA to get advice on how best to invest a small lump sum.
Posted 19 December 2010 by Michael Worledge, Associate Director
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