Annual Report and Accounts 2010
YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
Overview  02-06
02 YouGov at a Glance
04 Highlights
05 Chairman’s Statement
Business Review  07-19
07 Chief Executive Officer’s Report
10 BrandIndex 
12 SixthSense
13 Our Hubs
18 Chief Financial Officer’s Report
Management and Governance 20-30
20 Board of Directors
22 Directors’ Report
25 Remuneration Report
27 Corporate Governance Report
30 Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities
Financial Statements  31-78
31  Independent Auditors’ Report to  
the Members of YouGov plc on the  
Consolidated Financial Statements
32 Consolidated Income Statement
33  Consolidated Statement of  
Comprehensive Income
34  Consolidated Statement of 
Financial Position
35  Consolidated Statement of Changes  
in Equity
36 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
37  Principal Accounting Policies of the  
Consolidated Financial Statements
50  Notes to the Consolidated 
Financial Statements
70  Independent Auditors’ Report to  
the Members of YouGov plc on the  
Parent Company Financial Statements
71 Company Balance Sheet
72  Principal Accounting Policies of the  
Company Financial Statements
74  Notes to the Company Financial 
Statements
Additional Information  79-80
79 Notice of Annual General Meeting
Contents
YouGov at a Glance page 2 Chief Executive Officer’s Report page 7 Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 01
Overview
YouGov is the  authoritative measure  of 
public opinion and consumer behaviour .  
It is YouGov’s ambition to supply a live stream 
of  continuous, accurate data  and insight into 
what people are thinking and doing all over 
the world,  all of the time , so that companies, 
governments and institutions can better serve 
the people that sustain them.
BrandIndex Feature page 10 Chief Financial Officer’s Report page 18 Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
02 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Overview
YouGov at a Glance
26% UK
16%  Middle East and 
North Africa 
31%  Germany and 
Central Europe
16%  Scandinavia and 
Northern Europe
11% North America
2.5m
people worldwide
We have a panel of
Increase in cash
20%
22% 2010: £15.6m 
2009: £12.7m
Adjusted operating profit increased by
2010: £3.8m 
2009: £3.1m
Our Clients
Revenue by Region
26%
16%
31%
16%
11% Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 03
Overview
YouGovZapera
Region: Scandinavia and 
Northern Europe
Offices Copenhagen, Helsinki,  
 Malmö, Oslo, Stockholm
Revenue £6,953,000
Panel size 129,600
Number of employees 62
YouGovPolimetrix
Region: North America
Offices Palo Alto, New York,  
 Waterbury , Princeton,  
 Washington
Revenue £4,703,000
Panel size 1,747,000
Number of employees 37
YouGovPsychonomics
Region: Germany and Central Europe
Offices Cologne, Berlin, Vienna
Revenue £13,687,000
Panel size 81,610
Number of employees 156
YouGovSiraj
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Offices Dubai, Dammam,  
 Jeddah, Riyadh
Revenue £7,210,000
Panel size 214,000
Number of employees 52
YouGov
Region: UK
Offices London
Revenue £11,681,000
Panel size 338,300
Number of employees 96 Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
04 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Overview
Highlights
Operational Highlights
■■ Strong performance in the UK and the USA
■■ Successful turnaround in Scandinavia 
■■ Focus on innovation – successful launches of SixthSense 
reports business, TellYouGov platform, daily polling for 
UK General Election
■■ Global BrandIndex revenue up by 53%
■■ US acquisitions accelerate growth of US commercial 
market research business
■■ Development of real-time research products continues 
with new launches expected this year
Key Financials
Turnover £44.2m
(2009: £44.3m)
Adjusted operating profit¹ £3.8m
(2009: £3.1m)
Operating cash generation £4.9m
(2009: £5.3m)
Reported operating loss £9.6m
(2009: £1.0m)
after:  – amortisation of intangibles £3.7m (2009: £3.1m) 
– goodwill impairment charge £7.9m 
– exceptional items of £1.8m (2009: £0.6m)
Adjusted profit before tax² £4.0m
(2009: £3.9m)
Reported loss before tax £9.6m
(2009: £0.7m)
Adjusted earnings per share³ 2.5p
(2009: 2.7p)
Balance sheet remains strong – net cash 
increased to £15.6m at 31 July 2010
from £12.7m at 31 July 2009
Operating cost savings achieved  £2.5m
1  Adjusted operating profit is defined as Group operating profit before 
amortisation of intangibles, impairment charge and exceptional items 
(and in 2009, after adding back one-off costs associated with the 
integration of acquired entities).
2  Adjusted profit before tax is defined as adjusted operating profit plus  
net finance income and share loss of joint ventures.
3  Adjusted earnings per share is calculated based on the post-tax result 
derived from the adjusted profit before tax.
Key Performance Indicators
Turnover (£000)
44,234
44,322
40,390
14,303
9,472
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Adjusted Operating Profit (£000)
3,776
3,086
8,695
5,620
3,862
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Average Headcount 
420
431
402
76
42
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Revenue Per Head (£000)
105
103
100
188
226
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Adjusted Earnings Per Share (p) 
*(restated for the 5:1 share split on 18 April 2007)
2.5
2.7
9.1
6.4
4.5
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006* Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 05
Chairman’s Statement
Business Review Overview
Roger Parry
In the year ended 31 July 2010, YouGov has made good 
progress in terms of strengthening our Company’s 
operations and developing new services for our customers. 
The Group’s management has achieved all of the 
goals which the Board set for them at the start  
of the period, in particular that of improving 
operating profitability.
Consistent with this and as anticipated, the second-half 
performance was stronger than the first both in revenue  
and profit terms. We also maintained our strong cash 
generation in the full year . This was all achieved against  
the background of continued economic uncertainty .
Financial Results
Revenue for the financial year of £44.2m was at the same 
level as last year , although the second half year saw an 
increase of 5% compared with the prior year . This reflected 
a mixture of success at winning new work, especially in the 
UK and USA, offset by the expected reduction in spend by 
some established clients, notably in the Middle East. With 
continued tight control of operating costs, we have been 
able to increase adjusted operating profit for the year by 
22% to £3.8m. The cash generated from operations totalled 
£4.9m, representing a profit conversion rate of 130% and 
our cash balance increased by £2.7m in the year to £15.6m. 
Adjusted profit before tax was £4.0m (2009: £3.9m) 
although there was a reported loss before tax in the year of 
£9.6m (2009: £0.7m) after charging amortisation, impairment 
and exceptional costs totalling £13.4m. These comprised 
amortisation of intangibles of £3.7m, exceptional costs of 
£1.8m and a goodwill impairment charge of £7.9m relating 
to our German subsidiary . 
Organic Development and Acquisitions
When YouGov was founded in 2000 it was a pioneer of 
internet research techniques. As the use of online data 
collection methods has become more widely adopted, 
YouGov’s priority has been to invest in the development 
 of new market research techniques and technologies.  
We expect that this will lead to further revenue growth  
as we roll out new and more effective research services.
As a result of the actions taken during the last year , YouGov 
now has a more consistent approach across all of its 
operating hubs which should provide a solid base for future 
growth in profits, especially through continued improvement 
in operating margins. 
Going forward, the Board is focused on using the successful 
core UK business as the model for expansion internationally 
which will be largely organic. We now have the technology 
platform in place which we believe will enable us to serve 
customers in new geographic markets and are rolling out 
our products to meet demand. We will, however , continue  
to consider the selective acquisition of businesses that 
strengthen our existing operations and from which we can 
derive further benefits of scale.  Business Review Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
06 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Overview
Chairman’s Statement continued
On behalf of the Board and shareholders, I would like to 
thank Nadhim for his entrepreneurial energy and his role 
with Stephan in taking YouGov from a start-up to becoming 
one of the world’s best known and most respected market 
research companies in the space of ten years. We wish him 
well in his new political career .
In August 2010, we appointed a new Non-Executive 
Director , Ben Elliot, who is the founder of Quintessentially 
and will bring additional international, entrepreneurial and 
leisure sector expertise to the YouGov Board.
Roger Parry 
Chairman
11 October 2010
This is exactly what we have done in the past year in the 
USA which we regard as our highest potential growth market 
having demonstrated the quality of our panel, methodology , 
and technology . We purchased Clear Horizons in Princeton, 
New Jersey in April 2009 which has proved to be a very 
successful acquisition, leading to good new client wins. 
Consistent with this approach, we completed in August  
(after the end of the current reporting period) the acquisition 
of Harrison Group, based in Waterbury , Connecticut, which 
further enhances our US corporate research offering. The 
Board believes that these businesses, combined with 
YouGovPolimetrix (our first US acquisition in 2007),  
will provide us with a strong base from which to continue  
to expand in the USA. The transaction terms are structured 
conservatively so as to help ensure sustainable growth and 
our management team has undertaken extensive work  
to plan and execute the successful integration of the 
American businesses. 
Board and Management 
In February 2010, Nadhim Zahawi, the co-founder  
and Chief Executive Officer of YouGov , was adopted as the 
Parliamentary candidate for Stratford-on-Avon. He won  
the seat in the subsequent General Election, at which  
point he stood down as a Director of YouGov . 
Stephan Shakespeare, YouGov’s co-founder and Chief 
Innovations Officer who had been joint Chief Executive 
Officer until 2005, took over as sole CEO with effect from 
April 2010. Stephan has placed increased focus on aligning 
all of the hubs with the original core strengths of YouGov 
and building on these to deliver strong organic growth.  
He has also continued to drive YouGov’s innovations in 
research methods and technology so as to deliver more 
new products into the market. Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 07
Business Review
Chief Executive Officer’s Report for the year ended 31 July 2010
YouGov has begun the next phase of its development, 
having fixed significant problems, clarified its strategy for 
growth, and developed new research products to drive  
the Group forward. The actions taken have resulted in a 
22% growth in adjusted operating profits during the last 
financial year .
In the last year , our UK business delivered an impressive 
performance growing revenue and profits and taking 
operating margins back to over 27%. We have brought the 
Scandinavian business back into profit as anticipated at the 
half year . In the USA, we continued to make good headway 
with BrandIndex, and have acquired a company whose 
commercial market research expertise significantly 
strengthens our offering and will make fuller use of the 
“engine” (i.e. the panel and the technology) that we have 
built there. In the Middle East we have appointed the head 
of our UK products business as CEO to reinforce the focus 
of the local business on the online quantitative work best 
suited to our methods. In Germany , the online products 
business is growing well and we have begun to re-engineer 
the processes in the custom business utilising the Group’s 
technology platform. However , progress towards higher 
profitability in Germany has been slower than hoped.
We have streamlined operations and strengthened the 
Group-level leadership of our business units, which allows 
us to implement our strategy more effectively and capitalise 
on the strength of our methodology and significant 
investment in technology . Because we have recognised – 
and addressed – the areas which needed improvement,  
we have set a clearer strategy for growth and laid the 
foundations for its delivery . 
It is significant that the parts of our business that 
have continued to grow even in the recession are 
those which are closest to YouGov’s original and 
core offering. Replicating this in other markets is 
now our strategic priority. 
When YouGov was pioneering internet-based research 
some ten years ago, the principal benefits were lower costs 
and greater speed. Online is now accepted as the way  
to do research and as the pace of change and innovation  
in communities and markets speeds up, companies are 
increasingly coming to us for continuous data and analysis 
to steer their own development in the face of that 
demanding environment. YouGov’s rich panel-derived data, 
reported and analysed in real time, is ideally suited to that 
challenge. Because our techniques of panel management 
and data analysis have become more sophisticated,  
we are now in a position to really “take the pulse” of opinion 
through constant interaction. The initial response to these 
developments from our large research clients has been 
very positive.
One of the early examples of this was the recent General 
Election in the UK where we conducted polling on a daily 
basis on behalf of News International. This gave an 
extremely accurate indication of voting intention as was 
evidenced by the fact that YouGov was the first polling 
company to report that the probable outcome would be  
a hung parliament and the first to report the extraordinary 
success experienced by the Liberal Democrat Party in  
the televised debates. Also in this context, we have started 
to embrace the technology of Twitter and the greatly 
increased penetration of smartphones to allow panellists  
to volunteer their instant opinions on a wide range of issues 
through our TellYouGov website.
Building on this, we have been developing some new 
products which will shortly come to market, as well as 
enhancing existing ones. For example, we have been 
collaborating with Bloomberg to provide reports and 
research data products to the investment community and 
expect the first outputs to be issued in October 2010.  
We are also aligning our custom research to make better 
use of the strengths of our methodology and real-time 
research products. 
Our position as a media brand is important to 
YouGov not only because of the visibility it creates 
for clients, but because it also enriches the 
experience of being on the YouGov panel – and 
our sophisticated panel technology lies at the core 
of our research offering and our growth strategy.
Stephan Shakespeare Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
08 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
It is therefore pleasing to report that not only has  
our dominance in the UK public culture continued to 
develop with daily polling and a series of new trackers and 
methods, but our recognition as a quality research brand 
has also grown in other countries, with significant media 
relationships now in place in the USA, Middle East, Germany 
and Scandinavia.
Current Trading and Prospects
The momentum seen in the second half has continued  
into the current year and trading is in line with the Board’s 
expectations. We expect our UK business to continue its 
good performance and to see further growth in the USA 
supported by our recent acquisitions. Our Scandinavian 
business expects to build on its second half performance 
through the coming year . Our Middle East business will 
maintain its strategy of growing locally generated business. 
Germany is expected to benefit from the continued growth 
in the online products business and the actions being taken 
to improve profitability .
There is greater optimism in the research market generally 
and revenues from new products are coming through as 
expected. This coupled with the positioning of the YouGov 
platform and the strength of our balance sheet gives the 
Board confidence in the future. 
Review of Operations
UK 
Our UK business improved operating profits by 70%  
on revenues which were 9% higher than the prior year .  
It achieved revenues of £12.1m, which increased by £1m 
compared to the year ended 31 July 2009. Operating profits 
improved significantly to £3.4m as did the operating margin, 
up from 18% to 28%. This excellent profit performance 
reflected the benefits of last year’s restructuring of the 
custom business which improved the effectiveness of  
the sector-based teams as well as reducing their costs. 
Revenue growth reflects additional contributions from our 
products business, notably our market-leading Omnibus 
service which expanded its international and UK regional 
coverage and grew revenue by 12% and from polling for the 
UK General Election. Our sector-based client teams have 
also been extending their client base winning significant 
projects from clients such as the Office of Fair Trading and 
Chief Executive Officer’s Report for the year ended 31 July 2010 continued
Pfizer and as well as renewing major contracts with clients 
such as Asda, Costa Coffee and News International. 
An important new business development this year was the 
launch of SixthSense, our new business intelligence service 
that provides in-depth reports on a range of sectors 
drawing on YouGov’s primary research data as well as other 
specialist data sources and expert views. Sales began in 
the second half of the year and are expected to grow 
significantly next year with over 108 report titles covering 36 
topic areas already available. This investment is expected to 
become cash positive in the first quarter of the year ending 
31 July 2011. 
Middle East
In the Middle East, overall revenues were 14% lower at £7.2m 
compared to £8.4m in the previous year and operating profits 
were £1.4m, compared to £2.8m. This was due to the expected 
reduction in revenue from a major long-term contract which 
fell by £1.9m. Importantly, locally generated business grew 
by 30% showing that our strategy of investing to build this 
up is bearing fruit. This business now represents 40% of the 
overall Middle Eastern revenue. A key aim has been to grow 
our online services in the region and to this end Sundip 
Chahal, formerly head of our UK products business, was 
appointed as CEO of the Middle East business in April 
2010. We also re-organised the local team so as to focus 
resources on key growth areas. This reduced the headcount 
by nine and the cost base by £0.5m annually . An enhanced 
regional Omnibus service is now available and BrandIndex 
which was launched in August 2009 has grown sales well. 
The strength of our regional online panel was demonstrated 
by the recent announcement of a contract to provide 
pioneering weekly polling for Al Aan TV a pan-regional, 
Arab language broadcaster . Our Saudi Arabia operation 
grew revenue by 60% and we have also begun to generate 
commercial research sales revenue in Iraq.
Germany
Revenues in our German business were £13.8m, 7% lower 
than the prior year figure of £14.8m. In part this reflected the 
closure of the Austrian research operation which had been 
loss-making. However , the new online products business 
nearly doubled its revenues reflecting the successful growth 
of the new daily Omnibus service launched in September  Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 09
Business Review
2009 as well as continued growth of BrandIndex sales. 
Following YouGov’s original model, a partnership has been 
established with Bild, one of Germany’s leading daily 
newspapers, which has provided valuable media exposure 
to help build awareness of YouGov and the benefits of 
online methods in Germany . This reflects our objective of 
replicating our successful UK model in other markets. The 
custom research side of the business has been broadening 
its sectoral spread and has gained significant new clients 
such as BMW, Fujitsu Siemens and Sanofi-Aventis. This 
adds to its strength in retail banking and insurance (where 
clients include Axa, Zurich Insurance and a number of 
regional banks). Operating costs were reduced by £0.8m 
compared to the previous year , but after a promising first 
half, profitability in the second was disappointing due in part 
to lower than expected gross margins resulting from a high 
proportion of external data collection costs for some large 
projects. Thus, operating profit for the full year was £0.4m 
compared to £0.7m in the year to 31 July 2009. 
We are expecting further significant growth in the online 
products area in the coming year and in the custom 
business we are re-engineering the business processes 
based around the Group’s technology so as to improve 
efficiency and increase operating margins. Although 
corrective actions are being taken, the impact of the trading 
performance has been judged to be sufficiently severe to 
indicate impairment to the carrying value of our German 
subsidiary . An impairment charge has therefore been made 
to reduce the value of goodwill and intangible assets.
Scandinavia
The measures taken in November 2009 to turn around our 
Scandinavian business were successful and as expected  
it was sufficiently profitable in the second half to offset  
the losses in the first half. As a result, it achieved a small 
profit for the full year of £0.1m on revenues of £7.0m which 
were 6% lower than the prior year . We believe that this 
pan-regional business whose research is entirely online  
is now structured so as to achieve good margins for its 
market. We are also continuing to increase regional 
revenues from YouGov’s products such as BrandIndex 
which has a number of local clients and Omnibus which 
was launched there this year . The business’s main strengths 
are in the food and drink sector , with clients such as 
Coca-Cola and Procordia and major clients in other sectors 
this year included Danske Bank and Sony Ericsson. 
USA
As expected, our US business grew revenue by 39% to 
£4.8m and more than doubled operating profit to £0.5m 
following a strong performance in the second half of the 
year reflecting a number of significant project wins. We 
have been successful in our key aim of growing the share 
of commercial (i.e. non-political or academic) revenue 
which rose by 86% in the year . This includes the new 
Marketing Insights division (acquired as Clear Horizons LLC 
in April 2009) which met its first year earn-out target and 
whose acquisition has helped the US business to win more 
complex commercial research projects. BrandIndex has 
also contributed to this growth by doubling its revenues and 
winning new clients such as Domino’s Pizza and Pepsico.  
It is helping to build YouGov’s reputation for innovation in the 
US market and its value as a unique source of daily data on 
brand reputation is now being recognised in influential US 
media such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. 
We continue to expand the range of services offered in  
the USA and recently launched HospitalIndex, a new 
syndicated product which gives healthcare providers a 
measure of consumers’ attitudes and perceptions towards 
an area’s hospitals. Its early sales performance has 
been encouraging. 
The acquisition of Harrison Group which was completed 
after the period end is a further step in the process of 
scaling up our commercial market research business in the 
USA. As well as bringing an excellent client list and innovative 
syndicated products such as its Survey of Affluence and 
Wealth in America and the newly released American Pantry 
study, it adds a team of 35 significantly enhancing our 
capabilities and more than doubling our US revenue base. 
The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the 
first full year following completion.
Stephan Shakespeare  
Chief Executive Officer
11 October 2010
+ Additional Information Financial Statements Management 
and Governance
Overview
10 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
BrandIndex, YouGov’s flagship brand intelligence service, 
tells our clients exactly what the world thinks of their brands. 
It provides the most up to date information available on 
thousands of global and regional brands around the world. 
This has multiple uses whether for measuring the effectiveness 
of the latest advertising campaign or new product launch, 
assessing the impact of a major crisis or keeping a careful 
eye on competitors.
BrandIndex data is frequent (updated daily) and it is 
representative of the population as a whole. Clients can 
therefore be confident in the accuracy of the BrandIndex 
data on which to base their decisions. Our growing client 
roster attests to this. We are proud to have recently 
welcomed such world renowned brands as Yahoo!, Marks  
& Spencer , LG, Starbucks and Toyota to BrandIndex.
YouGov’s consumer panels and cutting edge proprietary 
technology are at the heart of BrandIndex and fuel all  
of our research. They enable us to engage in ongoing 
conversations with our panellists and to deliver precise and 
relevant results to our clients. For example, clients can now 
filter BrandIndex data based on key behavioural attributes. 
Examples include consumers who are in the market for a 
new car , or who have eaten at a fast-food restaurant in the 
past month. This major enhancement to BrandIndex, while 
appearing a simple one, is a true game changer . It gives 
clients the benefit of a virtually customised and more 
valuable data for the price of a syndicated service.
Advertising and Media agencies are increasingly using 
BrandIndex to provide them with an independent evaluation 
of the impact of marketing communications and brand 
management initiatives. The world’s best agencies can use it 
to plan for and deliver more effective campaign results and 
prove the value of their work to their clients. Starcom, BSSP , 
Razorfish, Hill Holiday and Mullen are all top tier agencies 
who have become BrandIndex clients in the past year , 
joining industry leaders such as Universal McCann, OMD 
and Mediacom, who were early supporters of our service.
BrandIndex is also increasingly cited among business 
commentators. The Wall Street Journal, The New York 
Times, Handelsblatt, Brand Week, Advertising Age and 
Marketing Week are just some of the world leading business 
publications that regularly reproduce BrandIndex data. 
These press relationships give BrandIndex data significant 
exposure to business leaders and decision makers.
BrandIndex
BP and Toyota
BrandIndex can be leveraged to put a crisis in context. 
2010 saw significant PR crises for both Toyota (which  
had to announce a major recall due to issues with the 
accelerator in several models) and BP (who had to deal 
with a leaking oil well miles below the ocean floor). 
Because BrandIndex tracks such a large number of 
brands, and has been doing so for several years now, our 
data gives companies the advantage of being able to put 
situations in the right context and very quickly determine 
the challenge that may lie ahead for them. Here the drop 
in BP’s buzz score closely mirrors the drop in Toyota’s 
buzz score, and the recovery periods and trajectories 
also appear to be similar .
Royal Mail
Following worker strikes in October 2009, which 
threatened to disrupt Christmas deliveries, Royal Mail 
sought to reassure consumers with a major advertising 
and public relations blitz. Analysis shows that a 
combination of the full page adverts in the national press 
directly targeting their employees to break the picket 
lines, the reassuring “Delivering Christmas For You” 
campaign, and the campaign designed to attract 
advertisers to use tailored and targeted direct mail 
campaigns increased Royal Mail’s buzz and overall Index 
scores to pre-strikes levels. Royal Mail has since gained  
a strong positive momentum.
Start date 01.01.2008
End date 22.09.2010
Scoring Standard
Moving average 6 weeks
01/01/2008
Score
 Toyota     BP
-70
50
26
2
-22
-46
26/10/2009 27/11/2008
Start date 31.08.2009
End date 10.09.2010
Scoring Standard
Moving average 2 weeks
31/08/2009
Score
 Royal Mail     Parcel Force     FedEx     DHL
-10
30
22
14
6
-2
07/05/2010 09/09/2010 04/01/2010 Additional Information Financial Statements Management 
and Governance
Overview
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 11
Business Review
Since April 2010, all YouGov’s BrandIndex markets utilise 
our common global technology platform for data collection, 
processing and reporting. This investment has made 
BrandIndex even more attractive to multinational clients  
who can now compare their brands across markets  
on an “apples to apples basis”, using the same metrics,  
in a single reporting tool.
“There is probably no other mechanism available” 
for the intensive daily results like those that 
BrandIndex seeks to generate, says Michael 
Brick, Vice President of Westat, a company that 
conducts polls for the US government.
Online Polling, Once Easily Dismissed, Burnishes Its Image,  
The Wall Street Journal, 7 August 2010.
This is another simple concept which delivers huge 
benefits, while it is complex to orchestrate in a way which  
is unique among research data supplies. Our technology 
platform also enables us to extend the reach of BrandIndex 
to more geographies, quickly and economically . We are 
Additional Information
currently working with our multinational clients to prioritise 
the expansion opportunities.
Our focus on delivering value to our clients has enabled  
us to grow the BrandIndex business substantially this year , 
and we expect further substantial growth in the coming year . 
We also plan to use our new TellYouGov capability, through 
which panellists can volunteer unprompted opinions, as a 
way of providing a statistically valid representation of social 
media “noise”. This also enables clients to drill behind the 
numbers for qualitative opinions that help to explain the 
quantitative scores. We will also continue to enhance the 
reporting and analytics capabilities of the BrandIndex 
platform. This includes new modules focused on key client 
activities such as building a media plan, evaluating an  
ad campaign or forecasting the results of a campaign. 
These will make it even easier for our clients to integrate 
BrandIndex into their day-to-day operational activities.
Global BrandIndex revenue has increased by 
53% in the last year.
Kraft/Cadbury
During the fourth quarter of 2009, Kraft pursued Cadbury 
as an acquisition target. Cadbury rejected Kraft’s initial 
offer in September 2009, but eventually accepted a 
sweetened offer in January 2010. As a consequence, 
amongst UK consumers, the Kraft brand suffered serious 
perception issues to its underlying measures of brand 
health. Cadbury has fared better , although its BrandIndex 
buzz score was very negative at the time it accepted 
Kraft’s offer .
Region UK
Sector Chocolate
Scoring Standard
Moving average 2 weeks
End date 01.02.2010
-20 46 35 24 13 2 -9
Impression
Reputation
-18
-32
66
52
38
10
24
-4
Kraft Nestlé
Fry’s
Toblerone Mars Cadbury
Lindt Thorntons
Green and Blacks
Rowntree’s Terry’s
Ferrero Rocher Additional Information Financial Statements Management 
and Governance
Overview
12 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
SixthSense is a brand new YouGov product, which provides 
comprehensive market intelligence in the form of written 
reports that are packed with original consumer research 
data and analysis supplemented by data on market sizes, 
brand analysis, competitive benchmarking, company 
profiles and market forecasts. While market reports are not 
a new concept to the industry , SixthSense takes the format 
to a new level by harnessing core YouGov strengths.
SixthSense reports are updated frequently , not just once  
per year . They are delivered through a sophisticated online 
platform that enables us to update the market intelligence 
immediately in response to changes in the market or in 
consumer behaviour , opinions or attitudes. Our reports are 
designed to enable businesses to base their decisions on 
the most current market intelligence. SixthSense effectively 
enables YouGov to provide clients with answers before they 
ask the questions.
As we collect original data through our proprietary panel,  
we are able to pack SixthSense reports with many times the 
amount of new consumer research that can be found in a 
typical report available from other providers. Thus much of the 
research presented in SixthSense reports is unique to them.
SixthSense
SixthSense reports are not just packed with data. Our highly 
qualified expert analysts use this data to provide insights, 
comment, opinion and advice on current market trends  
and conditions. Our reports help clients to understand the  
key trends in a market, assess how these might affect their 
business and evaluate possible strategies. For example,  
our reports can be used to calculate market share, analyse 
key brand health indicators and identify opportunities for 
product innovation and development.
Since launching SixthSense in the UK in March 2010, we 
have produced over 100 reports covering numerous topic 
areas with the Food & Drink, Retail, Finance, Technology, 
Leisure and Healthcare sectors. During the next year our 
reports portfolio will grow significantly both by the addition 
of more specialist reports within the sectors already 
covered and by extension of our coverage to more industry 
sectors (including Automotive, Energy and Travel) and 
eventually to new geographies.
SixthSense is already attracting clients who are new to 
YouGov UK such as Heinz, Estée Lauder , McCain, Bosch, 
UBS and Diesel. Its services will help to extend YouGov’s 
client relationships as many users may require more 
in-depth bespoke research (qualitative or quantitative) 
which can be fulfilled either by our daily Omnibus service  
or by our sector-based research and consulting teams.
Downloadable 
Charts and 
Reports
News Feeds
Updated as 
Things Change
Comprehensive 
Survey Results
Extendable 
with Bespoke 
Research 
Brand
Insight
Expert
Opinions
Market Trends 
and Opportunities
Market Size 
and Forecasts 
Consumer 
Behaviour  
and Opinions
The SixthSense Offering
SixthSense
Qualitative 
Insights 
Variety of 
Subscriber 
Packages 
Competitor 
Intelligence 
Advertising 
Spend Analysis 
Competitively 
Priced
Original 
Data Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 13
Business Review
Our Hubs
Review of 2009/10
This year , our Omnibus service continued to grow with the 
new international services generating a significant amount 
of new business. The sector-focused research division 
developed its reputation further and added new clients such 
as Pfizer and the Office of Fair Trading. We also launched 
SixthSense, a significant new business reports service 
(which is described in detail on page 12 of this review).
Plans for 2010/11
YouGov’s brand is already well recognised in the UK and 
we will continue to leverage this to increase our market 
share. We will continue to grow our data products business 
with SixthSense adding reports to our suite of services.  
We also plan to commercialise our innovative TellYouGov 
service whose early trials have proved the readiness of  
our panellists to offer their opinions unprompted so as  
to provide a way of evaluating the social media “noise”  
both quantitatively and qualitatively . Our sector specialist 
consulting teams will continue to focus on winning more 
projects in which YouGov’s core capabilities of data 
accuracy, speed and online reporting uniquely address 
clients’ strategic research needs. In the public sector ,  
we believe that the forthcoming budget cuts may help to 
accelerate the move to more cost-effective (and in our view 
more accurate) online methods from which YouGov’s is well 
placed to benefit. In local government, our new YouChoose 
web service, launched in September 2010 in collaboration 
with the London Borough of Redbridge, has already  
begun to demonstrate how authorities can obtain public 
opinion rapidly and achieve greater transparency in 
decision-making. 
Business Overview
YouGov UK provides a full quantitative and qualitative 
market research service to clients. Our sector specialist 
consulting teams serve financial, media, technology and 
telecoms, FMCG and public sector markets. Our products 
division provides BrandIndex and the fast turnaround 
Omnibus service which is the market leader in the UK.  
Our offer is rooted in the high degree of engagement  
and responsiveness of our panel.
The UK business achieved revenues of £12.1m in the 2010 
financial year . This represented a 9% increase compared  
to the previous year . Most importantly , the operating profit 
for the UK grew by 70%. As well as reflecting revenue 
growth, this substantial increase in profitability was due  
to the measures we took to restructure the business and 
reduce costs in the previous financial year .
Tim Britton
CEO  
YouGov UK
“YouGov dominates 
media polling and has 
been the most quoted 
research company  
in the UK since 2005.”
Source: Meltwater  
(web and print media)
YouGov’s Omnibus service 
is a cost-effective way  
of obtaining quantitative 
research findings, fast.  
By offering multiple clients 
the ability to ask questions 
on the same survey and  
to receive the results usually 
within 48 hours, Omnibus 
has become the UK market 
leader in the provision  
of rapid, accurate and 
cost-effective market data 
and insight. 
Qualibus is our new 
additional service that 
provides qualitative insight 
using the same fast and 
cost-effective, approach.  
It works by placing 
open-ended questions on 
Omnibus surveys. The 
results are analysed by our 
qualitative team who deliver 
their analysis to clients 
alongside the quantitative 
Omnibus data. This gives 
YouGov a big advantage 
compared to traditional 
qualitative test messaging 
which can take weeks  
and is often considerably 
more expensive. 
British Gas recently wished 
to understand which words 
and phrases most clearly 
resonated with consumers 
as being associated with 
their brand. In addition to 
providing British Gas with  
a quantitative assessment 
based on Omnibus data, this 
was paired with Qualibus 
insights to help them to 
understand what consumers 
felt different statements said 
about British Gas, and why. 
This was all completed 
within three days. 
“This was invaluable in 
giving us the insights behind 
our numbers. We were able 
to understand very quickly 
why consumers felt the  
way they did.”
British Gas Executive
Qualibus YouGovStone
YouGovStone, based in the UK, 
is a specialised opinion research 
company, a joint venture between 
YouGov plc and Carole Stone. 
YouGovStone has developed 
Carole’s highly successful 
networking business to create  
its own international panel of  
over 5,000 opinion leaders –  
“the influentials”. This ThinkTank 
provides clients with detailed 
insights into what opinion leaders 
think about key issues of the day. 
YouGovStone frequently holds 
debates based on its research. 
Clients include global businesses, 
as well as governments and 
voluntary sector organisations. 
Last year Carole established 
TheStoneClub, an invitation-only, 
part social, part business club. 
Club events bring members 
together with leading business, 
political and media experts to 
discuss current issues of concern. Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
14 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
Al Aan commissioned 
YouGovSiraj to help the 
station to understand and 
reflect the socio-economic 
outlook of Arab consumers 
across the region. We 
conduct weekly and monthly 
polls across the Arab region 
utilising our 214,000 strong 
panel. The polls cover Al 
Aan’s key markets of Saudi 
Arabia and United Arab 
Emirates as well as countries 
like Egypt and Iraq where 
the channel sees strong 
growth potential.
Kristina Koubar, Al Aan’s 
Head of Corporate 
Communications, said:  
“We would like to 
complement our TV ratings’ 
quantitative picture with  
the flexibility and in-depth  
of custom designed polls.  
Review of 2009/10
We continued to be at the forefront of online development 
with the launch of our enhanced Omnibus service in the 
region and the growth of the regional BrandIndex which has 
continued to gain new clients, especially within the banking 
sector . The broad spread of our activities across the region 
meant that economic conditions in our home base of Dubai 
were not a significant factor and we grew our regionally 
generated business by 30%. The growth of our Saudi 
Arabian business has been encouraging and we have 
augmented key relationships with clients such as Saudi 
Telecom and Riyadh Bank as well as winning new projects 
from prominent Saudi government-sponsored bodies. 
Plans for 2010/11
The market’s reaction to our proprietary online qualitative 
products has been positive and we expect revenue from 
these to grow significantly over the next 12 months. In the 
custom research side, we expect further good growth, 
especially in Saudi Arabia and are launching business 
development initiatives to exploit the growing opportunities 
for commercial research business in Iraq.
Business Overview
YouGovSiraj is the Middle East region’s most quoted 
research company and our brand is trusted for its 
impartiality and accuracy . Our online panel of 214,000 
members covering 14 countries, with whom we conduct 
research both in Arabic and English, is one of the strongest 
in the region. As well as establishing online research in the 
Middle East, our reputation has been built upon quality of 
expertise and research and the understanding of the local 
market gained through our staff’s many years of experience 
in the Arab world.
Our Hubs continued
Sundip Chahal
CEO  
YouGovSiraj  
Middle East and North Africa
“YouGovSiraj speaks 
the language and 
understands the cultural 
and socio-political 
context of its panel of 
over 214,000 members 
and this allows us to 
represent them, their 
opinions and their 
needs, with confidence.”
Al Aan is a pan-Arab satellite 
broadcaster based in Dubai 
Media City. The television 
channel is available free-to- 
air and offers original and 
innovative infotainment 
programmes aimed at a 
young, female audience. 
The channel’s aim is to 
educate as well as entertain 
whilst addressing the needs 
and aspirations of a dynamic 
Arab audience. Since 
inception in 2006, Al Aan  
has impressively grown its 
market share, year on year.
We have a unique, female-
focused infotainment brand. 
On-air and online, we feel 
we are at the cutting edge  
of Arabic content growth  
and therefore we need more 
research than ever before.”
YouGovSiraj also conducts 
regular opinion polls which 
are reported by Al Aan 
News. Nisreen Sadek, the 
Head of News at Al Aan TV, 
said: “The Arab viewer is 
diverse and dynamic. We 
want to capture important 
trends that define the 
audience and report them 
regularly in our news 
programmes. We want  
to be known as the news 
service that gives a huge 
emphasis to polls.”
Al Aan Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 15
Business Review
launch and expand our online products business while  
also consolidating the existing custom research business. 
We closed the loss-making market research business in 
Austria. In our main German custom research business,  
we have also been expanding the range of sectors that  
we serve and we have won projects with new clients such 
as BMW, Sanofi-Aventis and Fujitsu Siemens. We have  
also acquired the 40% minority shareholding in our 
subsidiary ServiceRating which provides a rating of 
companies’ quality of service. This now enables us freely  
to draw upon the expertise of this unit to develop and 
roll-out YouGov’s own service rating and customer 
satisfaction products. 
Despite good progress in a number of areas, the low 
profitability of our German business over the full year was 
disappointing especially after a good first half performance. 
This was largely due to low project gross margins and to the 
fact that while we have reduced staff costs in the last year , 
our overall revenue per head still remains too low. Our 
management team has developed detailed plans to address 
these factors so as to improve operating margins during the 
coming financial year .
Plans for 2010/11 
We intend to strengthen our position among the top ten 
market research organisations in Germany by continuing  
to vigorously expand our real-time research division and  
our custom research business, to build on the progress 
made to date in developing new sectors. The actions being 
taken to improve profitability focus on three key areas. First, 
we will focus sales efforts and resources on areas where  
we can secure better prices and reduce data collection 
costs. Second, we are re-engineering our research  
delivery , data handling and reporting processes supported  
by YouGov group’s technology and its approach to 
operations management. Third, we will continue to reduce 
overhead costs in areas which do not directly contribute  
to revenue generation.
Business Overview
Y ouGovPsychonomics provides a full range of quantitative and 
qualitative market research services as well as being a specialist 
in organisational and employee research. It has also pioneered 
the use of online methods in Germany . The products offered by 
its real-time research division, which is growing rapidly , include 
Y ouGov’s German Omnibus service which is becoming 
well-known in the market, and BrandIndex which has already 
attracted a number of leading German companies as clients. 
Y ouGovPsychonomics covers a range of vertical markets and 
has built a strong reputation as a leader in the retail banking 
and insurance sectors for which it undertakes authoritative 
annual customer behaviour and satisfaction studies. Other 
sectors include automotive, FMCG, telecommunications and 
healthcare. Other specialist areas include the ServiceRating 
business which evaluates the quality of customer service and 
Great Place to Work which evaluates workplace relations.
Review of 2009/10
Against the background of difficult market conditions in 
2009, YouGovPsychonomics has been able to successfully 
Andreas Schubert
CEO  
YouGovPsychonomics AG 
Germany and Central Europe
“To support growth  
in our core industries  
we are implementing  
an innovative and 
integrated online 
customer panel service 
that will allow our 
clients to manage a 
continuous dialogue 
with their customers.”
The savings bank  
is a long-running 
YouGovPsychonomics  
client for whom we have 
completed a number  
of Computer Assisted 
Telephone Interview (CATI) 
studies in the past. This 
project marked a methodical 
switch as we conducted the 
savings bank’s first large 
online-supported survey.
In addition to designing  
the online survey to capture 
the required information,  
we used YouGov’s 
proprietary survey and panel 
management technology, 
recently implemented in 
The regional federation  
of the leading German  
bank Sparkassen 
Finanzgruppe, the 
Sparkassen Verband Hessen-
Thueringen, approached 
YouGovPsychonomics to 
evaluate satisfaction among 
its online banking customers.
Germany, to run the study. 
The bank’s customers were 
recruited online through a 
number of secure portals. 
Using this method we were 
able to conduct up to 2,500 
interviews per hour, resulting 
in 145,000 respondents in  
a field time of four weeks.  
It is pleasing that this project, 
which served to introduce 
our client to online market 
research, was so successful.
Sparkassen 
Finanzgruppe
Great Place to Work Institute
Great Place to Work helps 
companies to improve corporate 
performance and raise the quality 
of work life for their employees. 
The results are published through 
the annual “Best Workplaces” and 
“Best Companies to Work For” 
lists. In Germany these are run  
in association with Handelsblatt 
(the leading business newspaper) 
and the Federal Ministry of 
Labour and include over 100 
companies from a range of 
industries. YouGovPsychonomics 
operates the Great Place to Work 
business in Germany and Austria 
under a license agreement from 
Great Place to Work Institute, 
based in California. Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
16 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
Review of 2009/10
During the last financial year , we were pleased to succeed 
in transforming the performance of our Nordic business, 
which moved back into profit in the second half after 
suffering from the unprecedented turbulence which 
affected the regional market during the 18 months to the 
end of the 2009 calendar year . We were particularly hard  
hit by the fall in advertising spend, as advertising and new 
product testing has been a significant part of our revenue. 
We therefore reduced costs and headcount in the period  
by nearly 20% and restructured our sales teams and 
refocused their efforts on areas where our core strengths  
of speed and accuracy can be most effectively deployed. 
We also completed the local implementation of YouGov 
group technology for panel and survey management. 
Having stabilised revenue and re-established profitability 
early in 2010, we began to see revenue growth in Denmark 
and Sweden towards the end of the financial year , driven 
especially by the FMCG and media sectors. Also we 
actively continued to build awareness of the YouGov brand 
in the Nordic region and achieved a significant increase  
in the number of times YouGov was quoted by the Nordic 
press. A collaboration with Metro Group newspapers,  
which is reporting our polls, has contributed to this.
Plans for 2010/11
This year we will be focusing on expanding our Nordic panels 
and engaging further with our panel members. With a strong 
platform in place in Denmark, the key region for growth 
during the next few years will be Sweden, which is the largest 
market in the Nordic region. We also plan to continue 
growing revenue from the YouGov syndicated products.
Business Overview
YouGovZapera was one of the first online market research 
businesses in Scandinavia and its panels consist of 
approximately 130,000 members across Denmark, Sweden, 
Norway and Finland. The Nordic headquarters are located 
in Copenhagen with sales offices in Stockholm, Malmö  
and Oslo. Our clients range across numerous sectors,  
with FMCG, media and healthcare representing the largest 
share of revenue.
Our Hubs continued
Ole Haghfelt
CEO  
YouGovZapera 
Scandinavia and Northern Europe
“The headline for this 
year will be to return  
to ‘the growth path’.”
how to collect and share 
knowledge. IBM’s Smarter 
Planet promotes the use of 
smarter systems to achieve 
economic growth, greater 
efficiency, sustainable 
development and 
societal benefits.
“We constantly validate  
the data supplied by 
YouGovZapera and  
compare it with our own 
sales figures and other 
sources, and there is a  
very fine concordance.  
This gives our results  
a very high degree of 
credibility – both internally 
and externally.”
Lars Aarup 
Head of Analysis 
FDB
FDB are using the results in 
several ways. Commercially, 
the data we supply allows  
a comparison of actual 
consumption with sales 
figures, which gives a  
unique insight into local 
market shares within various 
product groups. Additionally, 
it gives greater insight  
into how Danes combine 
various foods.
FDB are also using the 
results towards its aim  
to ensure responsible 
consumption. Consumption 
figures have been released 
to the press and published 
on a dynamic website so 
anyone can see, for 
example, in which areas of 
the country people eat the 
Every day for the last 18 
months, YouGovZapera has 
collected information on the 
eating habits of the Danish 
population. We now hold 
data on more than 450,000 
meals. This large tracking 
study was carried out for  
the Danish consumer- 
owned co-operative FDB, 
which owns a series of 
supermarket chains (Coop) 
with 1,195 stores, and 
whose aim is to achieve 
sustainable and responsible 
consumption. 
most cornflakes at breakfast 
or drink the most red wine 
with their evening meal.
The results are also being 
made available for research 
purposes. Previously, this 
type of data was only 
available from purported 
daily journals. By using the 
online approach we can 
prompt ordinary consumers 
to tell us what they had to 
eat the day before and we 
get a much more accurate 
record of consumption than 
previously achieved. 
The project has been selected 
by IBM to be part of their 
Smarter Planet programme 
and is being used as a 
worldwide case study on 
FDB Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 17
Business Review
Review of 2009/10
In the last quarter of the 2008/09 financial year we acquired 
Clear Horizons, a specialist in customer satisfaction, 
segmentation and new product market research. Rebranded 
as Marketing Insights, the acquisition has proved a great 
success in the financial year just ended and achieved its 
business plan and earn-out objectives. Our US BrandIndex 
business also continued to grow significantly helped by  
the successful collaboration with leading media agencies. 
(See page 10 of this report for detailed description of 
BrandIndex). These together contributed to the 86% growth 
of revenue from corporate clients in the year and to growing 
the reputation of YouGov among corporate research buyers. 
Our traditional academic and political business also had a 
successful year so that our overall revenue grew by 38%.
Plans for 2010/11
In continuation of our strategy, shortly after the end of the 
2010 financial year , we acquired Harrison Group, a strategic 
marketing consulting and research firm, to accelerate 
further our growth in the corporate market research sector . 
Its specialties include concept evolution, forecasting, 
segmentation, branding, business consulting and market 
modelling across multiple sectors, with a particular 
emphasis on the FMCG, interactive entertainment and 
wealth sectors. Combined with YouGov’s existing US 
operations, the acquisition will double the scale of the  
US business, consolidate our offering and create a strong 
platform for future growth.
Business Overview
YouGovPolimetrix is the leading online polling firm in North 
America. Using our panel of over one million members and 
pioneering statistical methodologies, we provide corporate, 
media, academic and non-profit clients with a unique 
combination of data, analytics and insight. In the 2008 US 
Presidential Election, YouGovPolimetrix surpassed nearly 
every other poll, both telephone and internet, with its level 
of accuracy . Over the last three years, a key objective has 
been to grow our corporate market research business in  
the USA, both organically and through acquisitions.
“During 2010, we 
successfully launched 
a new product that 
provides tracking and 
marketing support for 
hospitals. HospitalIndex 
takes advantage of the 
high density of YouGov 
panelists in local 
markets to provide the 
kind of insights that are 
expensive and difficult 
to obtain by traditional 
methods.”
The campaign was intended 
to build the equities of the 
brand and also had to serve 
as a platform for the launch 
of new models in its award-
winning line of smartphones, 
such as the HTC Incredible.
To ensure the campaign’s 
success, Jon turned to 
Marketing Insights, YouGov’s 
commercial custom research 
operation in the USA. YouGov 
responded with a proposal 
for a proprietary panel built 
to HTC’s specifications 
which would measure 
progress, at the market, 
shopper, retailer and carrier 
level, towards awareness 
and recommendation rates. 
When Jon Maron, HTC’s 
new Vice President 
Marketing, launched the 
“Quietly Brilliant” campaign 
in late 2009, he wanted to 
make sure that the campaign 
was building the brand with 
consumers, as well as its 
internal merchandising 
teams, on both a product 
and an emotional level.
Our panel now shows HTC 
where it has opportunities  
to expand and, more 
importantly, how to remove 
barriers so that more 
consumers ask for HTC  
at the point-of-sale. 
“YouGov has helped me 
pinpoint how we grow to  
be the number one brand 
consumers ask for when  
it’s time to upgrade their 
smartphones.  
P.S.… it’s working!”
Jon Maron 
Vice President Marketing  
HTC
HTC
Douglas Rivers
CEO  
YouGovPolimetrix 
North America Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
18 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Business Review
Adjusted profit before taxation², which includes net interest 
income, rose by only £0.1m from £3.9m as net interest 
income fell due to the lower interest rates prevailing. 
Adjusted earnings per share³ for the year are 2.5p, just 
below last year due to a lower tax credit. The reported result 
before taxation, after charging amortisation, impairment  
and exceptional items showed a loss of £9.6m compared  
to £0.7m in the year ended 31 July 2009. 
Amortisation of Intangible Assets and Impairment
Amortisation charges for intangible assets totalled  
£3.7m in the year of which £2.6m related to acquired  
assets and £1.1m to those created through the Group’s  
own internal development activities. In addition, an 
impairment charge of £7.9m has been made to reduce  
the carrying value of goodwill and intangible assets  
relating to our German subsidiary .
Exceptional Items
Exceptional costs of £1.8m (2009: £0.6m) were incurred  
in the year . £0.7m of these related to US acquisition costs 
which under the new IFRS3 (revised) have to be expensed 
when incurred; £0.6m was due to a change in accounting 
estimates for panel incentive costs which recognises the 
higher retention rate within the UK panel. £0.3m related  
to restructuring initiatives and £0.3m to employment 
termination costs of the former CEO.
Events After the Reporting Period – Acquisition of 
Harrison Group
The acquisition of Harrison Group, one of the USA ’s leading 
market and strategic research firms was completed on 
16 August 2010. The basic purchase consideration payable 
will be six times the EBITDA achieved by Harrison in the 
year ended 31 December 2010. $6m (£4m) of this was  
paid on completion and the balance will be payable in 
instalments between 2011 and 2013, contingent upon the 
results achieved in 2010 and 2011. An additional payment 
of up to $1.25m will be payable in 2013 contingent upon 
strong EBITDA growth targets being achieved in the 
calendar years 2011 and 2012. Based on Harrison’s current 
business plans, the total consideration payable is expected 
to be approximately $13m (£8m). This transaction will be 
funded entirely from YouGov’s existing cash resources.
At completion, Harrison had net assets of approximately 
$2m including net current assets of $1.4m. For the year 
ended 31 December 2009, Harrison reported revenues of 
approximately US$9.6m and adjusted EBITDA of US$0.3m. 
On a trailing 12 months basis to 31 March 2010, Harrison’s 
pro-forma revenues were US$10.6m and its adjusted 
EBITDA (excluding certain non-recurring revenues and 
costs) was US $1.0m.
Income Statement Review
Group turnover for the year to 31 July 2010 of £44.2m was 
in line with the prior year and 1% less on a constant currency 
basis. However , as expected, trading was stronger in the 
second half of the year resulting in revenue growth of 5% 
compared to the same period in the prior year . Full year 
revenue performance was mixed across the hubs with  
the UK and the USA up by 10% and 38% respectively,  
the Middle East down 15% due to previously anticipated 
reduction in a large contract and Germany and Scandinavia 
respectively 7% and 6% lower , all as expected.
The Group’s gross margin increased by 2% points to 78% 
as a result of tighter management of external data 
collection costs and the continuing shift to online in 
Germany and Middle East. Operating expenses of £30.6m 
were £0.5m lower than last year (£0.8m lower in constant 
currency terms) and represented 69% of revenue, 
compared to 70% in the previous year . The savings 
measures taken in 2009 achieved their target but in the 
second half of the current financial year , investments  
were made in staff in the UK and the USA to support  
new business initiatives and business expansion. 
The average number of staff (full-time equivalents) 
employed during the year fell to 420 from 431 largely as  
a result of the staff reductions made during 2009. Revenue 
per head based on this increased to £105,000 from 
£103,000 in the year ended 31 July 2009. At the year-end, 
Group staff totalled 425 compared to 413 at 31 July 2009. 
This increase largely reflected recent recruitment for new 
business initiatives in the UK and the USA.
Adjusted Group operating profit¹ increased by 22% 
to £3.8m compared to £3.1m in the previous year. 
Chief Financial Officer’s Report for the year ended 31 July 2010
Alan Newman
1 Adjusted Group operating profit is defined as Group operating profit before  
 amortisation of intangibles, impairment charge and exceptional items (and  
 in 2009, after adding back one-off costs associated with the integration of  
 acquired entities).
2 Adjusted profit before tax is defined as adjusted operating profit plus net  
 finance income and share loss of joint ventures.
3 Adjusted earnings per share is calculated based on the post-tax result  
 derived from the adjusted profit before tax. Overview Management 
and Governance
Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 19
Business Review
Panel Development
As at 31 July 2010, the Group’s online panels comprised a 
total of 2,510,500 panellists (defined as the number of panel 
registrations), an increase of 13% over the total of 2,216,000 
as at 31 July 2009. The panel sizes by region were:
  Panel size at  Panel size at 
Region  31 July 2010 31 July 2009
UK  338,300 266,000
Middle East and North Africa 214,000 197,000
Germany and Central Europe  81,600 122,000
Scandinavia and Northern Europe 129,600 143,000
USA  1,747,000 1,488,000
Total   2,510,500 2,216,000
Panel numbers have grown in the UK, Middle East and  
USA directly reflecting higher levels of online survey activity . 
We have scaled down panel activity in Austria and Eastern 
Europe while increasing the online research undertaken in 
our main German market resulting in net reduction in the 
panel this year . In Scandinavia, there was a small reduction 
due to some participants with low or no activity being taken 
off the panel.
Alan Newman 
Chief Financial Officer
11 October 2010
Analysis of Operating Profit and Earnings per Share
   31 July 2010 31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Group operating profit before  
amortisation of intangibles,  
impairment and exceptional costs  3,776 2,715
Integration costs  – 371
Adjusted operating profit  3,776 3,086
Share-based payments  148 271
Imputed interest  48 158
Net finance income  5 404
Share of post-tax (loss)/profit  
in joint venture  (8) (47)
Adjusted profit before tax  3,969 3,872
Adjusted profit after tax  2,422 2,625
Adjusted earnings per share  2.5 2.7
Cash Flow
The Group generated £4.9m in cash from operations  
(before paying interest and tax) (2009: £5.3m) and paid  
out £2.7m in investing activities (2009: £4.8m) of which 
£2.3m (2009: £2.7m) related to capital expenditure on 
tangible and intangible assets and £0.6m (2009: £2.9m)  
to acquisitions including deferred consideration.
Taxation
The Group had a tax credit of £0.3m (2009: £0.6m) 
excluding the effect of the exceptional costs and impairment 
charge. Including these items, the reported tax credit was 
£2.6m (2009: £0.8m). This comprised a current tax charge 
of £0.2m (2009: £0.4m) and a deferred tax credit of £2.8m 
(2009: £1.2m). 
Financial Position 
Net assets totalled £60.2m at 31 July 2010 compared to 
£67.1m at 31 July 2009. The fall was largely due to the effect 
of the impairment of goodwill and intangibles. Current 
assets rose by £2.7m largely due to the increase in the cash 
balances. Debtor days fell significantly to 61 days from 70 
days due especially to improved collections on some large 
contracts. Current liabilities increased by £1.5m due mainly 
to an increase in trade creditors. Creditor days rose to 34 
days from 31 days in 2009. The reduction in working capital 
contributed to an increase in net cash balances of £2.7m  
to £15.6m compared to £12.5m at 31 July 2009.  Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
20 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
Board of Directors
Alan Newman 
Chief Financial Officer
Alan has considerable experience  
in the media and communications 
sectors. He has been a Partner with 
Ernst & Young LLP and KPMG LLP 
where he led the TMT sector financial 
management consulting practice. Alan’s 
previous corporate management roles 
include International Finance Director 
of Longman and Group Development 
Manager of MAI plc (now United 
Business Media). He is a Trustee  
of the Freud Museum London. Alan  
is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered 
Accountants and also has an MA in 
Modern Languages (French and 
Spanish) from Cambridge University .
Roger Parry 
Non-Executive Chairman
Roger is also Non-Executive Chairman 
of Media Square plc, Future plc and 
Mobile Streams plc and Chairman  
of Shakespeare’s Globe Trust. Roger 
was a journalist with the BBC and ITV 
and a consultant with McKinsey & Co.  
He was CEO of More Group plc and 
Chairman and CEO of Clear Channel 
International. Roger was educated  
at the universities of Oxford (Jesus 
College) (M.Litt Economics) and  
Bristol (BSc Geology). He is the author 
of three books: People Businesses; 
Enterprise; and Making Cities Work. 
He is a Visiting Fellow of Oxford 
University .
Stephan Shakespeare  
Chief Executive Officer  
and Co-Founder
Stephan co-founded YouGov in 2000  
(a collaboration with Nadhim Zahawi).  
One of the pioneers of internet 
research, Stephan has been the driving 
force behind YouGov’s innovation-led 
strategy . He is also Chairman of the 
Network for the Post-Bureaucratic Age, 
a group dedicated to advancing the 
web-powered relationships between 
consumers, business and government, 
launched with David Cameron in 
February 2010. He is also Chairman  
of PoliticsHome.com. Before founding 
YouGov Stephan was a school-teacher 
and founding Principal of Landmark 
West Preparatory School in Los 
Angeles. Stephan has an MA in 
English Language and Literature  
from Oxford University . Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 21
Management 
and Governance
Ben Elliot  
Non-Executive Director
Ben Elliot is Co-Chairman of 
Quintessentially which he co-founded 
in 2000. The Quintessentially Group 
operates 20 companies worldwide  
in the luxury lifestyle market. In 2008 
Ben launched the Quintessentially 
Foundation, a charitable fund, and  
he has also been a pioneering force 
behind Quintessentially at The House 
of St Barnabas. Prior to this Ben 
co-founded several other companies 
including K-Bar and members’ clubs 
Rock and Kabaret. He graduated from 
the University of Bristol with a degree 
in Economics and Politics.
Peter Bazalgette  
Non-Executive Director
Peter Bazalgette is a media consultant 
specialising in television and digital 
entertainment. He is Chairman of 
MirriAd and a Non-Executive Director 
of MyVideoRights, Nutopia and YouGov . 
He advises two of Sony’s UK television 
divisions and is also a member of 
BBH’s Advisory Board. Peter is a 
former Board member of Channel 4 
and was Chief Creative Officer of 
Endemol, where he personally devised 
several internationally successful TV 
formats and brought Big Brother to  
the UK. Peter also serves as Deputy 
Chairman of the English National 
Opera, President of the Royal 
Television Society and is a Trustee of 
Debate Mate. Peter graduated with a 
BA in Law from Cambridge University .
Nick Jones  
Non-Executive Director
Nick Jones is currently Chief Financial 
Officer of Achilles Group, the global 
provider of professional procurement 
services. Prior to this, Nick was Global 
Head of Finance for Reuters plc where 
he also led the integration of Thomson 
and Reuters. Nick has held senior 
financial roles in technology and media 
businesses in the UK, the US and 
Europe including Virgin Media, Phillips 
Electronics and RR Donnelley . He is  
a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of 
Management Accountants and holds a 
BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance. Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
22 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
The Directors present their report and the audited 
consolidated financial statements for the year ended  
31 July 2010.
Principal Activities
YouGov carries out online research using proprietary 
software to produce accurate market research, political and 
media opinion polling and stakeholder consultation. The use 
of internet-based research enables YouGov to produce 
accurate research using larger sample sizes while keeping 
costs lower than traditional research companies that use 
telephone and face-to-face interview techniques.
Business Review
The business review is discussed on pages 8 to 9.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
The principal risks and uncertainties are discussed in the 
corporate governance report on pages 27 to 29.
Financial Summary
The financial summary is discussed on pages 18 to 19 of 
the Chief Financial Officer’s report.
Dividends
No dividends were declared in the year (2009: £nil).
Future Developments
Future developments are discussed in more detail in the 
Chairman’s statement on pages 5 to 6.
Events After the Reporting Date
Events after the reporting date are discussed in more detail 
in note 26 on page 69.
Directors
Directors at any point during the year and at any point up to 
the date of signing this report were:
Nadhim Zahawi (resigned 7 May 2010) 
Stephan Shakespeare 
Alan Newman 
Roger Parry 
Peter Bazalgette 
Nick Jones 
Ben Elliot (appointed 2 August 2010)
Directors’ Interests in Shares
The interests of the Directors in the shares of the Company 
on 31 July 2010 and 31 July 2009 were as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  Number of shares Number of shares
Nadhim Zahawi
1
   10 10
Stephan Shakespeare
2
  10,939,110 10,939,110
Alan Newman  25,000 25,000
Roger Parry  52,000 25,000
Peter Bazalgette  200,945 200,945
Nick Jones  – –
1  As at date of resignation on 7 May 2010 – in addition Nadhim Zahawi  
has an interest in 10,029,100 shares in the Company through his  
family trust, Balshore Investments.
2  Includes five Ordinary Shares held by Stephan’s wife, 
Rosamund Shakespeare.
The Directors’ interests in share options is detailed in the 
remuneration report on page 26.
No Director had either , during or at the end of the year ,  
a material interest in any contract which was significant  
in relation to the Group’s business.
Employee Involvement and Communication
The Company has continued its practice of keeping 
employees informed of matters affecting them as employees 
and the financial and economic factors affecting the 
performance of the Company .
Applications for employment by disabled persons are  
given full and fair consideration for all vacancies in 
accordance with their particular aptitudes and abilities.  
In the event of employees becoming disabled, every effort 
is made to retrain them in order that their employment with 
the Company may continue.
It is the policy of the Company that training, career 
development and promotion opportunities should be 
available to all employees.
Employees are encouraged to own shares in the Company, 
and many employees are shareholders and/or hold options 
under the Company’s share option schemes including  
the newly launched LTIP scheme. Information about the 
Company’s affairs is communicated to employees through 
regular management meetings, our newsletter , intranet and 
social events.
Directors’ Report for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 23
Management 
and Governance
Social Responsibility
The Group recognises the importance of respecting and 
supporting the communities in which it operates and, thus, 
improving the positive impact of business in society .
Ethical Behaviour
YouGov expects its employees to exercise high ethical  
and moral standards at all times whilst representing 
the Company .
The Environment
The Group recognises that the wise use of resources 
delivers both environmental and financial benefits. As part of 
our overall approach to Corporate Responsibility we aim to 
promote the maintenance of a healthy environment through 
responsible and sustainable consumption and production.
Our operations are predominately office based, and here 
we try to minimise our impacts where practicable. As part 
of this policy we:
■■ ensure that all waste is stored and disposed of 
responsibly, and recycle where possible;
■■ ensure that paper used comes from reputable managed 
forests; and
■■ comply, where required, with the Packaging (Essential 
Requirements) Regulations and the Packaging Waste 
Regulations.
Health and Safety
The Group takes all reasonable and practicable steps to 
safeguard the health, safety and welfare of its employees 
and recognises its responsibilities for the health and safety 
of others who may be affected by its activities.
Diversity in the Workplace
The Group is committed to providing a working environment 
in which its employees are able to realise their potential and 
to contribute to business success irrespective of gender , 
marital status, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, disability, 
sexual orientation or age.
Policy on Supplier Payments
The Company aims to pay all its suppliers within a 
reasonable period of their invoices being received and 
approved, provided that the supplier has performed  
in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions.  
At 31 July 2010 the number of days credit taken for 
purchases by the Group was 34 days (2009: 31 days).  
The number of days’ credit taken for purchases by the 
Company was 49 days (2009: 28 days).
Substantial Shareholders
At 31 July 2010 the following had notified the Company of 
disclosable interests in 3% or more of the nominal value  
of the Company’s shares:
Name   Shareholding
Stephan Shakespeare¹  10,939,110 11.29%
JO Hambro Capital Management 10,200,000 10.53%
Balshore Investments²  10,029,100 10.36%
T Rowe Price Global Investments 5,862,508 6.05%
Kabouter Management  5,737,500 5.93%
BlackRock  4,514,850 4.66%
Standard Life Investments  4,000,000 4.13%
Baillie Gifford  3,907,571 4.04%
Close Asset Management   3,400,557 3.51%
Invesco Perpetual   2,912,787 3.01%
1  Includes five Ordinary Shares held by Stephan’s wife, 
Rosamund Shakespeare.
2  Balshore Investments is the family trust of Nadhim Zahawi.
Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators are discussed in more detail  
on page 4.
Financial Risks
The financial risks facing the Group are discussed in more 
detail on pages 65 and 66.
Research and Development
The Group’s research and development activities centre on 
the development of bespoke software solutions to support 
and advance our online capabilities. No research and 
development was charged to the income statement in the 
year ended 31 July 2010 (2009: £0.3m). Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
24 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
Independent Auditors
In accordance with section 418(2) of the Companies Act 
2006, each of the Company’s Directors in office as at the 
date of this report confirms that:
■■ so far as the Director is aware, there is no relevant  
audit information of which the Company’s auditors 
are unaware;
■■ all steps have been taken as a Director to make himself 
aware of any relevant audit information and to establish 
that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.
The Group auditors are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP .  
A resolution to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP  
as auditors to the Company will be proposed at the 
forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held 
on 8 December 2010 at our offices at 50 Featherstone 
Street, London EC1Y 8RT .
Alan Newman 
Chief Financial Officer  
and Company Secretary
On behalf of the Board 
11 October 2010
Charitable and Political Contributions
Donations to charitable organisations amounted to £1,000  
(2009: £1,025). No political donations were made in the year 
(2009: £nil).
Insurance of Company Officers
The Company has maintained during the financial year , 
Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance which gives 
appropriate cover for any legal action brought against its 
Directors. In accordance with section 236 of the Companies 
Act 2006, qualifying third-party indemnity provisions are in 
place for the Directors and Company Secretary in respect 
of liabilities incurred as a result of their office, to the extent 
permitted by law. This insurance was in force at the date of 
signing of the financial statements.
Going Concern
Having made enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable 
expectation that the Company has sufficient resources to 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. 
For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern 
basis in preparing the accounts.
Directors’ Report for the year ended 31 July 2010 continued Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 25
Management 
and Governance
The Remuneration Committee comprised at 31 July 2010 two 
Non-Executive Directors, Peter Bazalgette and Nick Jones.
Remuneration Report
A resolution will be put to the shareholders at the Annual 
General Meeting to be held on 8 December 2010 inviting 
them to consider and approve this report. The remuneration 
report is unaudited.
Compliance
The constitution and operation of the Committee is in 
compliance with the principles and best practice provisions 
as set out in the Combined Code as if it were followed  
and full consideration was given to these in determining  
the remuneration packages for the Executive Directors 
for 2009/10.
This is not a remuneration report as defined by 
Company law.
Policy on Remuneration of Executive Directors
The Remuneration Committee reviews the performance of 
Executive Directors and sets the scale and structure of their 
remuneration and the basis of their service agreements with 
due regard to the interests of shareholders. In determining 
that remuneration the Remuneration Committee seeks to 
offer a competitive remuneration structure to maintain the 
high calibre of its Executive Board. The Committee believes 
that maintaining the Company’s business growth and profit 
record requires an overall compensation policy with a 
strong performance-related element.
The main components of the Executive Directors’ 
remuneration are:
1. Basic Salary
Basic salary for each Director is determined by the 
Remuneration Committee taking into account the 
performance of the individual and external market data.  
The Committee’s policy is to review salaries annually .
2. Annual Bonus 
The Executive Directors are eligible for an annual bonus 
which is focused on the achievement of the Group’s 
short-term objectives. The Remuneration Committee sets 
targets linked to the Group’s stated strategy and tailored  
to each Director’s individual role. These include financial 
and non-financial measures. It assesses their overall 
performance against those indicators and generally in 
determining the level of bonus payable.
3. Share Options
The Company believes that share ownership by non-
business owner Executive Directors strengthens the  
link between their personal interests and those of the 
shareholders in respect of shareholder value.
Long Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”)
The Long Term Incentive Plan was established in 2009  
in which Executive Directors and senior managers of the 
Company and its subsidiaries are eligible to participate.
Under the rules of the LTIP , participants are conditionally 
awarded nil cost options to acquire shares. Awards are 
usually made annually . The number of such shares will 
normally be calculated by reference to a percentage of the 
participant’s salary and the Company’s closing share price 
on the date of the Preliminary Announcement of the Group’s 
annual results. The shares subject to the LTIP awards will  
be released to the recipients at the end of a holding period, 
normally three years, subject to their continued employment 
(with exceptions in certain circumstances) and to the 
Group’s achievement of certain targets for earnings  
per share growth and Total Shareholder Return.
The total number of LTIP shares awarded conditionally in 
the year ended 31 July 2010 to participants in the Scheme 
was approximately 1.9 million and in the year ended 31 July 
2009 was approximately 2 million. These include conditional 
awards to the Executive Directors of the Company as set 
out below.
Directors’ Service Contracts
The table below summarises key details in respect of each 
Director’s contract.
Executive Directors  Contract date Notice period
Stephan Shakespeare  18 April 2005 12 months
Alan Newman  5 June 2009 6 months
Nadhim Zahawi*  18 April 2005 12 months
Non-Executive Directors Date of initial appointment Notice period
Roger Parry  6 February 2007 30 days
Peter Bazalgette  2 March 2005 30 days
Nick Jones  2 June 2009 30 days
*   Nadhim Zahawi was employed as Chief Executive Officer until 31 March 
2010 when his employment contract was terminated following his 
selection as a Parliamentary candidate. He resigned as a Director  
of the Company on 7 May 2010 following his election as a Member  
of Parliament. In consideration for the termination of Nadhim’s contract 
and for the extension of certain restrictive covenants, the Company  
made payments to Nadhim Zahawi totalling £249,000.
Save as set out above, there are no existing or proposed 
service contracts between any of the Directors and the 
Company or any member of the Company .
The total aggregate remuneration (including benefits in  
kind and pension contributions) paid to the Directors by  
all members of the Group for the year ending 31 July 2010 
amounted to £861,000 (2009: £675,000).
Remuneration Report (unaudited) for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
26 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
No Director has or has had any interest in any transaction  
which is or was unusual in its nature or conditions or which  
is or was significant in relation to the business of the  
Company and which was effected by the Company either:  
(i) during the current or immediately preceding financial  
year; or (ii) during any earlier financial year and which  
remains in any aspect outstanding or unperformed.
Policy on Remuneration of Non-Executive Directors
The remuneration of the Non-Executive Directors is set by  
the Board as a whole.
Directors’ Remuneration
Directors’ remuneration in aggregate are as follows: 
 Salary Benefits in kind Total Total 
 31 July 2010 31 July 2010 31 July 2010 31 July 2009 
Name £ £ £ £
Executive Directors
Stephan Shakespeare 195,000 1,200 196,200 195,000
Nadhim Zahawi 378,750 1,230 379,980 195,000
Alan Newman 145,000 – 145,000 154,000
Anthony Foye – – – 20,000
Katherine Lee – – – 1,000
Non-Executive Directors
Roger Parry 80,000 – 80,000 80,000
Peter Bazalgette 30,000 – 30,000 25,000
Nick Jones 30,000 – 30,000  5,000
Totals 858,750 2,430 861,180 675,000
The benefits in kind received was private health insurance.
The remuneration received by Nadhim Zahawi includes  
salary of £131,000 and compensation for termination of  
employment of £249,000.
Directors’ Share Options
The following unexercised nil cost options over shares were  
held by Directors under the Long Term Incentive Scheme:
  Number  
  outstanding at  Date of 
Name  31 July 2010 potential vesting
Stephan Shakespeare 359,447 October 2011
Stephan Shakespeare 384,060 October 2012
Alan Newman 267,281 October 2011
Alan Newman 288,557 October 2012
Nadhim Zahawi  359,447 October 2011
Nadhim Zahawi maintained his rights under the LTIP  
on leaving the Company in line with the LTIP terms.
Remuneration Report (unaudited) for the year ended 31 July 2010 continued Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 27
Management 
and Governance
Corporate Governance Report for the year ended 31 July 2010
Compliance with the Combined Code
The Board considers that the Group continues to work hard 
towards compliance with the Combined Code 2008. Full 
compliance has not yet been achieved and the Board and 
Audit Committee monitor the Company’s compliance on  
a regular basis. YouGov does not need to comply with the 
Combined Code as it is listed on the AIM Index. A copy of 
the Combined Code is publicly available at www.frc.org.uk.
The Board
At 31 July 2010, the Board consisted of two Executive 
Directors and three Non-Executive Directors, including  
a senior Non-Executive Director . A third Non-Executive 
Director was appointed on 2 August 2010. The names  
of the Directors and their respective responsibilities are 
shown on pages 20 and 21.
The Board operates both formally , through Board and 
Committee meetings, and informally , through regular contact 
amongst Directors. High-level decisions on such matters as 
strategy , financial performance and reporting, dividends, risk 
management, major capital expenditure, acquisitions and 
disposals are reserved for the Board or Board Committees. 
For its regular formal meetings, the Board receives 
appropriate information in advance from management.
The Directors can obtain independent professional advice 
at the Company’s own expense in the performance of their 
duties as Directors.
The Board formally approves the appointment of all new 
Directors. All Directors are required to submit themselves 
for re-election at the first Annual General Meeting following 
their appointment and subsequent to this at the Annual 
General Meeting on a rotational basis, which ensures that 
each Director is submitted for re-election approximately 
every three years. Proposals to re-elect Directors are set out 
in the Notice of the Annual General Meeting on page 79.
Board Committees
Remuneration Committee – The Remuneration Committee  
was established at the time of flotation. The composition  
of the Remuneration Committee is shown below and the 
statement of the remuneration policy developed by the 
Committee and details of each Director’s remuneration  
are given within the Directors’ remuneration report set out 
on pages 25 to 26.
Audit Committee – The composition of the Audit Committee 
is shown below. The Audit Committee operates under terms 
of reference agreed by the whole Board and meets with the 
auditors to consider the Company’s financial reporting in 
advance of its publication.
Board and Committee Attendance
The following table sets out the attendance of Directors  
at Board and Committee meetings during 2009/10.
  Remuneration 
 Board Committee Audit Committee 
 meetings meetings meetings 
Director Maximum 8 Maximum 3 Maximum 2
Nadhim Zahawi 5 2 –
Stephan Shakespeare 8 – –
Alan Newman 8 – 2
Roger Parry 8 – –
Peter Bazalgette 8 3 2
Nick Jones 7 3 2
Shareholder Communications
The Board’s assessment of the Company’s position and 
prospects are set out in the Chairman’s Statement on pages 
5 to 6 and the Chief Financial Officer’s Report on pages  
18 to 19.
The Executive Directors meet regularly with institutional 
shareholders to discuss the Company’s performance and 
future prospects. At these meetings the views of institutional 
shareholders are canvassed and subsequently reported 
back to the Board. The Annual General Meeting is used  
as a forum for communication with private shareholders.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee comprises the two Non-Executive 
Directors, Nick Jones (its Chairman) and Peter Bazalgette. 
Nick Jones has recent relevant financial experience.
The Audit Committee reports to the Board on any matters  
in respect of which it considers that action or improvement 
is needed, and makes recommendations as to the steps  
to be taken. In particular the Committee is responsible for:
■■ ensuring that the financial performance of the Group  
is properly monitored and reported;
■■ monitoring the formal announcements relating to 
financial performance;
■■ meeting the auditors and agreeing audit strategy;
■■ reviewing reports from the auditors and management 
relating to accounts and internal control systems; and
■■ making recommendations to the Board in respect of 
external auditor appointment and remuneration. Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
28 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
■■ reporting to, and review by, the Board of changes in 
legislation and practices within the sector and accounting 
and legal developments pertinent to the Company;
■■ appointing experienced and suitably qualified staff to 
take responsibility for key business functions to ensure 
maintenance of high standards of performance; and
■■ appraisal and approval of proposed acquisitions by 
the Board.
Auditor Independence
The Audit Committee also undertakes a formal assessment 
of the auditors’ independence each year which includes:
■■ confirmation of the auditors’ objectivity and 
independence in the provision of non-audit services  
to the Company by the use of separate teams to  
provide such services where appropriate;
■■ discussion with the auditors of a written report detailing 
relationships with the Company and any other parties 
that could affect independence or the perception 
of independence;
■■ a review of the auditors’ own procedures for ensuring 
independence of the audit firm and partners and staff 
involved in the audit, including the regular rotation of  
the audit partner; and
■■ obtaining written confirmation from the auditors that,  
in their professional judgement, they are independent.
Any analysis of the fees payable to the external audit firm  
in respect of both audit and non-audit services during the 
year is set out in note 1 to the accounts.
Risk Management
The Board reviews risks facing the business on a regular 
basis. The following paragraphs describe the principal risks 
and uncertainties identified.
Early Stage of Development
Although the Company has grown substantially since  
it was formed ten years ago, it remains a relatively small 
company in an early stage of development. The Company 
faces competition from both large established international 
companies as well as small local businesses operating  
in the same sector .
The effectiveness of the internal control systems is under 
constant review and a formal assessment of internal 
controls has been conducted. The Audit Committee will 
monitor the implementation of a series of detailed steps  
to improve the control environment. Although there was  
no formal internal audit during the year , the accounting 
functions were subject to periodic internal review. As the 
business continues to grow we keep the Group’s need  
for an internal audit function under constant review.
Key Controls and Procedures
The Board maintains full control and direction over 
appropriate strategic, financial, organisational and 
compliance issues, and has put in place an organisational 
structure with defined lines of responsibility and delegation 
of authority .
The annual budget and forecasts are reviewed by the Board 
prior to approval being given. This includes the identification 
and assessment of the business risks inherent in the Group 
and the media sector as a whole along with associated 
financial risks.
The system of internal control is designed to manage  
rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business 
objectives in addition to providing reasonable and not 
absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. 
These procedures have been in place during the financial 
year up to the date of approval of the annual report.  
This process is regularly reviewed by the Board and  
is in accordance with the Turnbull guidance. The key 
procedures include:
■■ detailed budgeting programme with an annual budget 
approved by the Board;
■■ regular review by the Board of actual results compared 
with budget and forecasts;
■■ regular reviews by the Board of year end forecasts;
■■ establishment of procedures for acquisitions, capital 
expenditure and expenditure incurred in the ordinary 
course of business;
■■ detailed budgeting and monitoring of costs incurred  
on the development of new products;
Corporate Governance Report for the year ended 31 July 2010 continued Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 29
Management 
and Governance
Acquisitions
The Directors plan to expand and develop the business 
through a strategy of targeted acquisitions. The risk  
exists that integration of any acquired business will be 
unsuccessful or that key employees or clients of the 
acquired business will be lost. Directors will attempt  
to mitigate this risk by careful due diligence and 
communication with the clients of target companies.  
The Directors will also seek to communicate YouGov’s 
strategy to staff and ensure that levels of remuneration  
and benefits are appropriate to retain key employees.
The Company may be unable to agree suitable terms with 
the shareholders of a target company and be forced to 
abandon an attempted takeover . This may happen after 
management have invested significant amounts of time  
and effort as well as accruing advisers’ fees.
Technology
A strong software platform is essential for carrying out online 
research. This software must be reviewed and updated on a 
regular basis to ensure that it does not become superseded 
by newer technologies in other companies. YouGov has 
sought to remain competitive in this area by recruiting an 
experienced team of software specialists with responsibility 
for developing the proprietary software systems. Employees 
in this area must provide three months’ notice on departure 
and YouGov has developed a succession planning 
document with sufficient detail on the structure of 
proprietary software applications and the IT infrastructure  
to assist in an orderly transition period in the event of staff 
leaving. A disaster recovery plan is in place and is reviewed 
by the Audit Committee annually .
Currency Fluctuations
The Group is exposed to currency risk as the Group 
operates in multiple geographic regions. This manifests 
itself in different forms. We seek to reduce this risk by 
invoicing in local currency thus reducing exposure in normal 
trading and purchase forward contracts to hedge exposure 
to US Dollars. The Group is exposed to currency translation 
risk in the consolidation of accounting records. The main 
reporting currencies of Group subsidiaries are Sterling,  
US Dollar , Euro, Danish Kroner and Arab Emirate Dirham.
Projected Growth
The Company’s plans incorporate continued growth in the 
coming years. This growth will be in part dependent on the 
marketing and research budgets of target clients over 
which YouGov has little control.
Competition
YouGov has developed an internet-based research strategy 
which other large and established research organisations 
are also beginning to adopt. Some of these more 
established research organisations have well-developed 
brands and substantial resources and may be able to use 
these to compete very effectively in developing online 
panels and competing software.
Staff
The success of YouGov will be influenced by the recruitment 
and retention of high-calibre staff. Senior staff that manage 
key client relationships and those with software expertise 
are particularly important to the continuing development 
and smooth running of the Company . To mitigate this risk, 
YouGov has built account and project management teams 
for key clients and larger research projects. In this way  
the client relationships and project related knowledge  
are shared among a number of individuals rather than 
concentrated with one person.
Internationalisation
YouGov now has wide geographical spread. Monitoring and 
reporting these businesses’ performance relies upon the 
operation of key controls. There is a risk that these controls 
may not operate effectively in each jurisdiction. Overview Business Review Financial Statements Additional Information
30 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Management 
and Governance
The Directors are responsible for preparing the annual 
report, the Directors’ remuneration report and the  
financial statements in accordance with applicable law 
and regulations.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial 
statements for each financial year . Under that law the 
Directors have prepared the Group financial statements  
in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union,  
and the parent Company financial statements in accordance 
with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting 
Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and 
applicable law). Under company law the Directors must not 
approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied 
that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of 
the Group and the Company and of the profit or loss of the 
Company and Group for that period. In preparing these 
financial statements, the Directors are required to:
■■ select suitable accounting policies and then apply 
them consistently;
■■ make judgements and accounting estimates that are 
reasonable and prudent;
■■ state whether IFRSs as adopted by the European Union  
and applicable UK Accounting Standards have been 
followed, subject to any material departures disclosed 
and explained in the Group and parent Company 
financial statements respectively;
■■ prepare the financial statements on the going concern 
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the 
Company will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate 
accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain 
the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company 
and enable them to ensure that the financial statements 
Comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also 
responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company 
and the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the 
prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance  
and integrity of the Company’s website. Legislation  
in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and 
dissemination of financial statements may differ from 
legislation in other jurisdictions.
On behalf of the Board
Alan Newman 
11 October 2010
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 31
Financial Statements
We have audited the Group financial statements of YouGov 
plc for the year ended 31 July 2010 which comprise the 
consolidated income statement, the consolidated statement 
of comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of 
financial position, the consolidated statement of changes  
in equity, the consolidated statement of cash flows, the 
principle accounting policies of the consolidated financial 
statements and the related notes. The financial reporting 
framework that has been applied in their preparation is 
applicable law and International Financial Reporting 
Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union.
Respective Responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
As explained more fully in the statement of Directors’ 
responsibilities, the Directors are responsible for the 
preparation of the financial statements and for being 
satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility 
is to audit the financial statements in accordance with 
applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK 
and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the 
Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.
This report, including the opinions, has been prepared  
for and only for the Company’s members as a body in 
accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies 
Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving 
these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any 
other purpose or to any other person to whom this report  
is shown or into whose hands it may come save where 
expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
Scope of the Audit of the Financial Statements
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts  
and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to  
give reasonable assurance that the financial statements  
are free from material misstatement, whether caused by 
fraud or error . This includes an assessment of: whether  
the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s 
circumstances and have been consistently applied and 
adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant 
accounting estimates made by the Directors; and the  
overall presentation of the financial statements.
Opinion on Financial Statements
In our opinion the Group financial statements:
■■ give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s 
affairs as at 31 July 2010 and of its loss and cash flows 
for the year then ended;
■■ have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs 
as adopted by the European Union; and
■■ have been prepared in accordance with the requirements 
of the Companies Act 2006.
Opinion on Other Matters Prescribed by the Companies 
Act 2006
In our opinion the information given in the Directors’  
report for the financial year for which the Group financial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the Group 
financial statements.
Matters on Which We Are Required to Report by Exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following 
matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to 
report to you if, in our opinion:
■■ certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration specified 
by law are not made; or
■■ we have not received all the information and explanations 
we require for our audit.
Other Matters
We have reported separately on the parent Company 
financial statements of YouGov plc for the year ended 
31 July 2010.
David A Snell (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 
London 
8 October 2010
Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of YouGov plc  
on the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
32 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
 Notes £000 £000
Revenue 1 44,234 44,322
Cost of sales*  (9,877) (10,557)
Gross profit  34,357 33,765
Operating expenses**  (30,581) (31,050)
Adjusted operating profit before amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional costs  1 3,776 2,715
Impairment of goodwill and intangibles 9 (7,861) –
Amortisation of intangibles   (3,689) (3,145)
Exceptional costs* 3 (1,834) (610)
Operating loss   (9,608) (1,040)
Finance income 4 205 1,054
Finance costs 4 (201) (650)
Share of post tax loss in joint ventures   (8) (47)
Loss before taxation 1 (9,612) (683)
Tax credit 5 2,572 842
(Loss)/profit after taxation 1 (7,040) 159
Attributable to:
 Owners of the parent   (7,534) (544)
 Non-controlling interests  494 703
   (7,040) 159
Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share attributable to owners of the parent 7 (7.8) (0.6)
Diluted earnings per share attributable to owners of the parent 7 (7.8) (0.6)
*  Total cost of sales including change of accounting estimate of panel provision detailed in note 3 is £10,477,000.
**  Total operating expenses including impairment of goodwill and intangibles, amortisation and the remaining items detailed in note 3 are £43,365,000.
The (loss)/profit is from continuing operations.
The notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
Consolidated Income Statement for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 33
Financial Statements
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 July 2010
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
(Loss)/profit for the year (7,040) 159
Other comprehensive income:
Currency translation differences  298 5,815
Purchase of non-controlling interest in subsidiary (163) –
  135 5,815
Other comprehensive income for the year net of tax 135 5,815
Total comprehensive income for the year (6,905) 5,974
Attributable to:
 Equity holders of the parent Company (7,680) 4,771
 Non-controlling interests 775 1,203
Total comprehensive income for the year (6,905) 5,974 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
34 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
 Notes £000 £000
Assets
Non-current assets
Goodwill 9 31,203 33,482
Other intangible assets 10 10,545 17,940
Property, plant and equipment 11 2,382 2,629
Investments in joint ventures 12 23 23
Deferred tax assets 19 2,606 2,510
Total non-current assets  46,759 56,584
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 13 14,561 13,678
Other short-term financial assets 14 165 211
Current tax assets  – 1,066
Cash and cash equivalents 15 15,634 12,718
Total current assets   30,360 27,673
Total assets  77,119 84,257
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 16 10,146 7,942
Provisions 18 1,278 1,738
Borrowings  4 228
Current tax liabilities  164 158
Deferred consideration 17 304 317
Total current liabilities 16 11,896 10,383
Net current assets  18,464 17,290
Non-current liabilities
Provisions 18 1,398 –
Deferred consideration 17 360 651
Long-term borrowings  – 22
Deferred tax liabilities 19 3,298 6,105
Total non-current liabilities  5,056 6,778
Total liabilities  16,952 17,161
Net assets  60,167 67,096
Equity
Issued share capital 21 194 193
Share premium  30,822 30,811
Merger reserve  9,239 9,239
Foreign exchange reserve  9,797 9,780
Retained earnings  6,116 13,665
Total shareholders’ funds   56,168 63,688
Non-controlling interests in equity  3,999 3,408
Total equity  60,167 67,096
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
These financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 October 2010 and signed on its behalf by:
Alan Newman 
Chief Financial Officer
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as at 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 35
Financial Statements
 Attributable to equity holders of the Company
 
  Share  Foreign Deferred   Non- 
 Share premium Merger  exchange consideration Retained  controlling Total 
 capital account reserve reserve reserve earnings Total interest equity 
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Balance previously reported  
at 1 August 2008 190 29,156 9,239 4,465 1,438 13,938 58,426 2,232 60,658
Changes in equity for 2008
Exchange differences on  
translating f oreign opera tions – – – 5,315 – – 5,315 500 5,815
Net income recognised  
directly in equity – – – 5,315 – – 5,315 500 5,815
(Loss)/profit f or t he period – – – – – (544) (544) 703 159
Total comprehensive income  
for the year – – – 5,315 – (544) 4,771 1,203 5,974
Expenses offset against  
share premium – (13) – – – – (13) – (13)
Issue of share capital through  
exercise of share options 1 232 – – – – 233 – 233
Deferred consideration as part  
consideration for acquisition 2 1,436 – – (1,438) – – – –
Share-based payments – – – – – 271 271 – 271
Dividends – – – – – – – (27) (27)
Balance at 31 July 2009 193 30,811 9,239 9,780 – 13,665 63,688 3,408 67,096
Changes in equity for 2010
Exchange differences on  
translating f oreign opera tions – – – 17 – – 17 281 298
Purchase of non-controlling  
interest in subsidiary – – – – – (163) (163) – (163)
Net (loss)/income recognised  
directly in equity – – – 17 – (163) (146) 281 135
(Loss)/profit for the year – – – – – (7,534) (7,534) 494 (7,040)
Total comprehensive  
(loss)/income for the year – – – 17 – (7,697) (7,680) 775 (6,905)
Issue of share capital through  
exercise of share options 1 11 – – – – 12 – 12
Purchase of non-controlling  
interest in subsidiary – – – – – – – (128) (128)
Share-based payments – – – – – 148 148 – 148
Dividends – – – – – – – (56) (56)
Balance at 31 July 2010 194 30,822 9,239 9,797 – 6,116 56,168 3,999 60,167
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity as at 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
36 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
 Notes £000 £000
Cash flows from operating activities
(Loss)/profit after taxation 1 (7,040) 159
Adjustments for:
 Impairment charge 9 7,861 –
 Amortisation 1 3,689 3,145
 Depreciation 1 658 557
 Loss on disposal of property , plant and equipment and other intangible assets 1 – 53
 Foreign exchange (loss)/benefit 1 (348) 132
 Share-based payments 1 148 271
 Taxation credit recorded in profit and loss 5 (2,572) (842)
 Net finance income 4 (4) (404)
 (Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables  (97) 5,265
 Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables  2,556 (3,040)
Cash generated from operations  4,851 5,296
Interest paid   (201) (624)
Income taxes recovered/(paid)  947 (520)
Net cash generated from operating activities  5,597 4,152
Cash flow from investing activities
Acquisition of subsidiaries (net of cash acquired)  (291) (685)
Settlement of deferred considerations 17 (304) (2,215)
Other investments made  – (175)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment 11 (282) (732)
Purchase of intangible assets 10 (2,037) (2,020)
Interest received and foreign exchange gains  205 1,054
Net cash used in investing activities  (2,709) (4,773)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital  5 220
Loan repayments   (237) (1,043)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests  (56) (12)
Net cash used in financing activities  (288) (835)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and overdrafts  2,600 (1,456)
Cash, cash equivalents and overdrafts at beginning of year  12,718 13,406
Exchange gain on cash and cash equivalents  316 768
Cash, cash equivalents and overdrafts at end of year 15 15,634 12,718
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 37
Financial Statements
Nature of Operations
YouGov plc and subsidiaries’ (“the Group”) principal activity is the provision of market research.
YouGov plc is the Group’s ultimate parent Company . It is incorporated and domiciled in Great Britain. The address of 
YouGov plc’s registered office is 50 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8RT , United Kingdom. YouGov plc’s shares are listed 
on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
YouGov plc’s annual consolidated financial statements are presented in UK Sterling, which is also the functional currency 
of the parent Company .
These annual consolidated financial statements have been approved for issue by the Board of Directors on 11 October 2010.
Basis of Preparation
The consolidated financial statements of YouGov plc are for the year ended 31 July 2010. They have been prepared  
under the historical cost convention. These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 
International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (IFRSs as adopted by the EU), IFRIC 
Interpretations and the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The consolidated financial 
statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
The policies set out below have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
The parent Company financial statements are prepared under UK GAAP and are detailed on pages 70 to 78.
The following new standards have been adopted by the Group in the period to 31 July 2010:
■■ IAS 1 (revised), “Presentation of financial statements”. This revised standard required entities to prepare a statement  
of comprehensive income. All non-owner changes in equity are required to be shown in a performance statement, but 
entities can choose whether to present one performance statement (the statement of comprehensive income) or two 
statements (the income statement and statement of comprehensive income), as adopted by the Group. Owner changes 
in equity are shown in a statement of changes in equity .
■■ IFRS 8, “Operating segments”. This standard replaces IAS 14. The new standard uses a “management approach”,  
under which segment information is presented on the same basis as that used for internal reporting purposes.
■■ IFRS 3 (revised), “Business combinations”. The standard continues to apply the acquisition method to business 
combinations, with some significant changes. For example, all payments to purchase a business are to be recorded  
at fair value at the acquisition date, with some contingent payments subsequently re-measured at fair value through 
income. Goodwill and non-controlling (minority) interests may be calculated on a gross or net basis. All transaction  
costs will be expensed.
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
38 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
The following new standards and amendments to existing standards are now effective but have no significant impact  
on the Group:
■■ IAS 23 (revised), “Borrowing costs”.
■■ Amendments to IFRIC 9 and IAS 39 regarding embedded derivatives.
■■ Annual improvements to IFRSs 2008.
■■ Amendment to IFRS 7, “Financial instruments: Disclosures”.
■■ Amendment to IFRS 1, “First time adoption of IFRS” and IAS 27 “Consolidated and separate financial statements”  
on the “Cost of an investment in a subsidiary , jointly controlled entity or associate”.
■■ Amendment to IAS 39, “Financial instruments: Recognition and measurement” and IFRS 7, “Financial instruments: 
Disclosures” on the “Reclassification of financial assets”.
■■ IFRS 1 (revised), “First-time adoption”.
■■ Amendment to IAS 32, “Financial instruments: Presentation”, and IAS 1, “Presentation of financial statements  
on Puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation”.
■■ Amendment to IFRS 2, “Share-based payments” on “Vesting conditions and cancellations”.
■■ Amendment to IAS 39, “Financial Instruments: Recognition and measurement” on “Eligible hedged items”.
■■ IAS 27 (revised), “Consolidated and separate financial statements”.
The principal accounting policies of the Group are set out below and have been applied consistently with the prior year  
in presenting the consolidated financial information.
Basis of Consolidation
The Group financial statements consolidate those of the Company and all of its subsidiary undertakings (see note 12) 
drawn up to 31 July 2010. Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group. Control is achieved where the Group has the 
power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. The Group 
obtains and exercises control through voting rights.
All intra-Group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated in full on consolidation. Amounts reported in 
the financial statements of subsidiaries have been adjusted where necessary to ensure consistency with the accounting 
policies adopted by the Group.
Acquisitions of subsidiaries are dealt with by the purchase method. The purchase method involves the recognition at  
fair value of all identifiable assets and liabilities, including contingent liabilities of the subsidiary, at the acquisition date, 
regardless of whether or not they were recorded in the financial statements of the subsidiary prior to acquisition. On initial 
recognition, the assets and liabilities of the subsidiary are included in the consolidated statement of financial position  
at their fair values, which are also used as the bases for subsequent measurement in accordance with the Group 
accounting policies. Goodwill is stated after separating out identifiable intangible assets. Goodwill represents the excess  
of acquisition cost over the fair value of the Group’s share of the identifiable net assets of the acquired subsidiary at the 
date of acquisition.
The Group applies a policy of treating transactions with non-controlling interests as transactions with parties external to the 
Group. Disposals to non-controlling interests result in gains and losses for the Group that are recorded in the statement of 
changes in equity . Purchases of non-controlling interests are recognised directly in reserves, being the difference between 
any consideration paid and the relevant share acquired of the carrying value of net assets of the subsidiary .
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 39
Financial Statements
Associates and Joint Ventures
Entities whose economic activities are controlled jointly by the Group and by other venturers independent of the Group  
are accounted for using the equity method. Associates are those entities over which the Group has significant influence 
(defined as the power to participate in the financial and operating decisions of the investee but not control or joint control 
over those policies) but which are neither subsidiaries nor interests in joint ventures. The results and assets and liabilities  
of associates and joint ventures are incorporated in these consolidated financial statements using the equity method  
of accounting, under which investments in associates and investments in joint ventures are carried in the consolidated 
statement of financial position at cost as adjusted for post-acquisition changes in the Group’s share of net assets of the 
associate or joint venture less any impairment in the value of individual investments.
However , when the Group’s share of losses in an associate or joint venture equals or exceeds its interest in the associate  
or joint venture, including any unsecured receivables, the Group does not recognise further losses, unless it has incurred 
obligations or made payments on behalf of the associate or joint venture. If the associate or joint venture subsequently 
reports profits, the Group resumes recognising its share of those profits only after its share of the profits equals the share 
of losses not recognised.
Unrealised gains on transactions between the Group and its associates or joint ventures are eliminated to the extent of the 
Group’s interests in the associates or joint ventures. Unrealised losses are also eliminated unless the transaction provides 
evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred. Amounts reported in the financial statements of associates and joint 
ventures have been adjusted where necessary to ensure consistency with the accounting policies adopted by the Group.
Segmental Analysis
Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating 
decision-maker . The chief operating decision-maker , who is responsible for allocating resources and assessing 
performance of the operating segments, has been identified as the operations board that makes strategic decisions.
Revenue
Revenue is measured by reference to the fair value of consideration received or receivable by the Group for services 
provided, excluding Value Added Tax and trade discounts.
Market Research
Revenue arises from the provision of market research services. Within this revenue stream are syndicated and 
non-syndicated services.
Syndicated Services
Syndicated services are the consistent provision of data over a specified period of time. Revenue is recognised from  
the point in time at which access passwords have been made available to the customer . Revenue is recognised in equal 
monthly instalments over the life of the contract.
Non-Syndicated Services
Non-syndicated services vary in size and complexity . Revenue is recognised from the point in time at which the customer 
has contracted the service. Revenue is recognised on each contract in proportion to the level of services performed by 
reference to the project manager’s estimates and time records against budgeted and assigned resource. Revenue is 
recognised on long-term contracts, if the outcome can be assessed with reasonable certainty, by including in the income 
statement revenue and related costs as contract activity progresses.
Non-Cash Transactions
The Group enters into contracts for the provision of market research services in exchange for advertising rather than  
for cash or other consideration. When barter transactions are agreed the value of the work provided to the counterparty  
is equal in value to that which would be provided in an ordinary cash transaction. As required by IAS 18.9 the value of 
advertising receivable in all significant barter transactions is ensured to be reliably measurable by referencing to the 
counterparty’s rate card. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
40 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Provisions
Provisions are recognised in the consolidated statement of financial position when a Group company has a present 
obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of a past event; it is probable that an outflow of resources embodying 
economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the 
obligation. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the present 
obligation at the reporting date.
If the effect is material, provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pre-tax rate that 
reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and, where appropriate, the risks specific to the liability .
Panel Incentive Costs
The Company invites consumer panel members to fill out surveys for a cash or points based incentive. Although these 
amounts are not paid until a predetermined target value has accrued on a panellist’s account, an assessment of incentives 
likely to be paid (present obligation) is made taking into account past panellist behaviour and is recognised as a cost of 
sale in the period in which the service is provided.
Interest
The Group receives interest income for cash funds that are held on short-term instant access deposit. Where interest 
receipts are received after the balance sheet date the interest due is accrued for the requisite period at the prevailing rate 
on the deposit.
Interest is recognised using the effective interest method which calculates the amortised cost of a financial asset and 
allocates the interest income over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated 
future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to the net carrying amount of the financial asset.
Exceptional Items
Items are highlighted as exceptional in the consolidated income statement when they are material in their nature or amount 
and when separate closure is considered helpful in understanding the underlying performance of the business. Examples 
include acquisition costs, restructuring costs and any other costs that are not incurred as part of normal operating activities.
Taxation
Current tax is the tax currently payable/recoverable based on taxable profit/loss for the year .
Deferred income taxes are calculated using the liability method on temporary differences. Deferred tax is generally 
provided on the difference between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. However , deferred 
tax is not provided on the initial recognition of goodwill, nor on the initial recognition of an asset or liability unless the 
related transaction is a business combination or affects tax or accounting profit. Deferred tax on temporary differences 
associated with shares in subsidiaries and joint ventures is not provided if reversal of these temporary differences can  
be controlled by the Group and it is probable that reversal will not occur in the foreseeable future. In addition, tax losses 
available to be carried forward as well as other income tax credits to the Group are assessed for recognition as deferred 
tax assets.
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are provided in full, with no discounting. Deferred tax assets are recognised to the  
extent that it is probable that the underlying deductible temporary differences will be able to be offset against future 
taxable income. Current and deferred tax assets and liabilities are calculated at tax rates that are expected to apply  
to their respective period of realisation, provided they are enacted or substantively enacted at the reporting date.
Changes in deferred tax assets or liabilities are recognised as a component of tax expense in the consolidated income 
statement, except where they relate to items that are charged or credited directly to equity in which case the related 
deferred tax is also charged or credited directly to equity .
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 41
Financial Statements
Dividends
Dividends are recognised when the shareholders’ right to receive payment is established.
Goodwill
Goodwill representing the excess of the cost of acquisition over the fair value of the Group’s share of the identifiable  
net assets acquired is capitalised and reviewed annually for impairment. Goodwill is carried at cost less accumulated 
impairment losses. If the Group’s interest in the net fair value of the identifiable assets, liabilities, contingent liabilities  
of the acquired entity exceeds the cost of the business combination, this value is recognised immediately in the 
consolidated income statement.
Goodwill written off to reserves prior to the date of transition to IFRS remains in reserves. There is no re-instatement of 
goodwill that was amortised prior to transition to IFRS. Goodwill previously written off to reserves is not written back to  
profit or loss on subsequent disposal.
Intangible Assets
Intangible assets represent identifiable non-monetary assets without physical substance. Intangible assets are valued  
at either their directly attributable costs or using valuation methods such as discounted cash flows and replacement cost  
in the case of acquired intangible assets.
The Directors estimate the useful economic life of each asset and use these estimates in applying amortisation rates.  
The Directors periodically review economic useful life estimates.
Intangible assets are stated at cost net of amortisation and any provision for impairment.
Directors conduct an annual impairment review of intangible assets where necessary for assets with an indefinite life. 
Where impairment arises, losses are recognised in the consolidated income statement.
Amortisation of intangible assets is shown on the face of the consolidated income statement.
Intangible Assets Acquired as Part of a Business Combination
In accordance with IFRS 3 “Business combinations”, an intangible asset acquired in a business combination is deemed  
to have a cost to the Group of its fair value at the acquisition date. The fair value of the intangible asset reflects market 
expectations about the probability that the future economic benefits embodied in the asset will flow to the Group. Where  
an intangible asset might be separable, but only together with a related tangible or intangible asset, the Group of assets  
is recognised as a single asset separately from goodwill where the individual fair values of the assets in the Group are  
not reliably measurable. Where the individual fair value of the complementary assets is reliably measurable, the Group 
recognises them as a single asset provided the individual assets have similar useful lives. Amortisation rates applicable  
to intangible assets acquired as part of a business combination are typically:
Intangible asset  Amortisation period
Consumer panel  5 years
Software and software development  5 years
Customer contracts and lists  10–11 years
Patents  5–15 years
Order backlog 3 months–1 year
Trademarks  Not amortised
  Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
42 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Intangible Assets Generated Internally
Internally generated intangible assets are only capitalised where they meet all of the following criteria stipulated by IAS 38:
■■ Completion of the intangible asset is technically feasible so that it will be available for use or sale.
■■ The Group intends to complete the intangible asset and use or sell it.
■■ The Group has the ability to use or sell the intangible asset.
■■ The intangible asset will generate probable future economic benefits. Among other things, this requires that there is a 
market for the output from the intangible asset or for the intangible asset itself, or , if it is to be used internally, the asset 
will be used in generating such benefits.
■■ There are adequate technical, financial and other resources to complete the development and to use or sell the 
intangible asset.
■■ The expenditure attributable to the intangible asset during its development can be measured reliably .
Internally generated intangible assets are capitalised at their directly attributable cost. Development costs not meeting the 
criteria for capitalisation are expensed as incurred.
Amortisation rates applicable to internally generated intangible assets are typically:
Intangible asset  Amortisation period
Software and software development  3 years
Patents and trademarks  Not amortised
Development costs Project by project basis
Consumer Panel
The consumer panel is the core asset from which our online revenues are generated.
Where a consumer panel or list is acquired as part of a business combination the cost of the asset is recognised at its  
fair value to the Group at the date of acquisition. The fair value is calculated by an independent expert. Amortisation is 
charged to write off the panel acquisition costs over a five-year period, this being the Directors’ estimate of the average 
active life of a panellist.
Consumer panel costs reflect the direct cost of recruiting new panel members. Only third-party costs are considered for 
capitalisation. Consumer panel costs are split between enhancement and maintenance of the asset. Enhancement costs 
are capitalised whilst maintenance costs are expensed. The split is based on management estimates derived from current 
levels of panel churn. Amortisation is charged to write off the panel acquisition costs over a three-year period, this being 
the Directors’ estimate of the average active life of a panellist.
Software and Software Development
Capitalised software includes our survey and panel management software and our BrandIndex platform which are key tools 
of our business. Software and software development also includes purchased off-the-shelf software.
Where software is acquired as part of a business combination the cost of the asset is recognised at its fair value to the 
Group at the date of acquisition. The fair value is calculated by an independent expert. Amortisation is charged to write off 
the software over a five-year period, this being the Directors’ estimate of the useful life of the software.
Where software is developed internally , directly attributable costs including employee costs are capitalised as software 
development. Amortisation commences upon completion of the asset. Amortisation is charged to write off the software 
over a three-year period, this being the Directors’ estimate of the useful life of the software.
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 43
Financial Statements
Customer Contract and Lists
Where a customer contract or list is acquired as part of a business combination the cost of the asset is recognised at its 
fair value to the Group at the date of acquisition. The fair value is calculated by an independent expert. Customer contracts 
and lists are amortised over a useful economic life based on Directors’ estimates.
Patents and Trademarks
Where a patent or trademark is acquired as part of a business combination the cost of the asset is recognised at its fair 
value to the Group at the date of acquisition. The fair value is calculated by an independent expert.
Patents acquired as part of a business combination are amortised over a useful economic life based on Directors’ estimates.
Patents and trademarks acquired on an ongoing basis to protect the YouGov brand and its products are included at cost 
and are not amortised, as the trademarks are indefinite in their longevity through legal rights. The patents are subject to an 
annual impairment review.
Order Backlog
Due to the nature of their business, Clear Horizons at the date of acquisition had a certain level of secured orders (order 
backlog) or quotations that have been accepted, and were awaiting commencement, completion or delivery . The fair value 
of these assets has been calculated by discounting the present value of the future anticipated cash inflow at the time of 
acquisition. Order backlogs are only recognised as an intangible asset when acquired as part of a business combination.
Amortisation was provided over the period in which it took to fulfil these secured orders.
Development Costs
Expenditure on research (or the research phase of an internal project) is recognised as an expense in the period in which 
it is incurred.
The cost of an internally generated intangible asset comprises all directly attributable costs necessary to create, produce 
and prepare the asset to be capable of operating in the manner intended by management.
Impairment Testing of Goodwill, Other Intangible Assets and Property, Plant and Equipment
For the purposes of assessing impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which there are separately 
identifiable cash flows (cash-generating units). As a result, some assets are tested individually for impairment and some 
are tested at cash-generating unit level. Goodwill is allocated to those cash-generating units that are expected to benefit 
from synergies of the related business combination and represent the lowest level within the Group at which management 
monitors the related cash flows.
Goodwill, other individual assets or cash-generating units that include goodwill, other intangible assets with an indefinite 
useful life, and those intangible assets not yet available for use are tested for impairment at least annually . All other 
individual assets or cash-generating units are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances  
indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable.
An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the asset’s or cash-generating unit’s carrying amount  
exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is calculated as value in use based on an internal discounted 
cash flow evaluation.
Impairment losses recognised for cash-generating units, to which goodwill has been allocated, are credited initially to the 
carrying amount of goodwill. Any remaining impairment loss is charged pro rata to the other assets in the cash-generating 
unit. With the exception of goodwill, all assets are subsequently reassessed for indications that an impairment loss 
previously recognised may no longer exist. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
44 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Property, Plant and Equipment and Depreciation
Property, plant and equipment is carried at cost net of depreciation and any provision for impairment. Cost includes  
the original purchase price of the asset and the costs attributable to bringing the asset to its working condition for its 
intended use. No depreciation is charged during the period of construction. Leasehold property is included in property, 
plant and equipment only where it is held under a finance lease. Borrowing costs on property, plant and equipment  
under construction are capitalised during the period of construction based on specific funds borrowed. Depreciation is 
calculated to write down the cost less estimated residual value of all property, plant and machinery over their estimated 
useful economic lives.
Asset  Depreciation rate
Freehold property 50 years
Leasehold property improvements Straight line over the life of the lease
Fixtures and fittings 25% on a reducing balance
Computer equipment 33% per annum straight line
Motor vehicles 25% or the life of the lease
Leased Assets
In accordance with IAS 17, the economic ownership of a leased asset is transferred to the lessee if the lessee bears 
substantially all the risks and rewards related to the ownership of the leased asset. The related asset is recognised at  
the time of inception of the lease at the fair value of the leased asset or , if lower , the present value of the minimum lease 
payments plus incidental payments, if any , to be borne by the lessee. A corresponding amount is recognised as a finance 
leasing liability .
The interest element of leasing payments represents a constant proportion of the capital balance outstanding and is 
charged to the income statement over the period of the lease.
All other leases are regarded as operating leases and the payments made under them are charged to the income 
statement on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease incentives are spread over the term of the lease.
Financial Assets
Financial assets are divided into the following categories: cash and cash equivalents, loans and receivables and available-
for-sale financial assets. Financial assets are assigned to the different categories by management on initial recognition, 
depending on the purpose for which they were acquired.
All financial assets are recognised when the Group becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Trade receivables are recognised initially at fair value and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective 
interest method, less provision for impairment. A provision for impairment of trade receivables is established when there  
is objective evidence that the Group will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the 
receivables. Significant financial difficulties of the debtor , probability that the debtor will enter bankruptcy or financial 
reorganisation, and default or delinquency in payments (more than 30 days overdue) are considered indicators that the 
trade receivable is impaired. The amount of the provision is the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and  
the present value of estimated future cash flows, discounted at the original effective interest rate. The carrying amount of 
the asset is reduced through the use of an allowance account, and the amount of the loss is recognised in the consolidated 
income statement within operating expenses. When a trade receivable is uncollectible, it is written off against the allowance 
account for trade receivables. Subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited against operating 
expenses in the consolidated income statement.
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 45
Financial Statements
Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an 
active market. Trade receivables and other financial assets are classified as loans and receivables. Loans and receivables 
are measured subsequent to initial recognition at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less provision for 
impairment. Any change in their value through impairment or reversal of impairment is recognised in the consolidated 
income statement.
Provision against trade receivables is made when there is objective evidence that the Group will not be able to collect all 
amounts due to it in accordance with the original terms of those receivables. The amount of the write-down is determined 
as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows.
An assessment for impairment is undertaken at least at each reporting date.
A financial asset is derecognised only where the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or the financial 
asset is transferred and that transfer qualifies for derecognition. A financial asset is transferred if the contractual rights to 
receive the cash flows of the asset have been transferred or the Group retains the contractual rights to receive the cash 
flows of the asset but assumes a contractual obligation to pay the cash flows to one or more recipients. A financial asset 
that is transferred qualifies for derecognition if the Group transfers substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of 
the asset, or if the Group neither retains nor transfers substantially all the risks and rewards if ownership but does transfer 
control of that asset.
Financial Liabilities
Financial liabilities are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Financial liabilities are assigned  
to the different categories by management on initial recognition, depending on the purpose for which they were acquired.
Financial liabilities are obligations to pay cash or other financial assets and are recognised when the Group becomes  
a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Trade and other payables are stated at their nominal value.
Borrowings and lease liabilities are recorded at the proceeds received, net of any issue costs. Finance charges are 
accounted for on an effective interest method and are added to the carrying value of the instrument to the extent that  
they are not settled in the period in which they arise.
A financial liability is derecognised only when the obligation is extinguished, that is, when the obligation is discharged  
or cancelled or expires.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits, together with other short-term, highly liquid 
investments that are readily convertible into known amounts of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of 
changes in value. In addition, bank overdrafts which are repayable on demand are included. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
46 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Equity
Equity comprises the following:
■■ Share capital represents the nominal value of equity shares.
■■ Share premium represents the excess over nominal value of the fair value of consideration received for equity shares, 
net of expenses of the share issue.
■■ Merger reserve represents the excess over nominal value of the fair value of consideration received for equity shares 
issued/allotted directly to acquire another entity meeting the specific requirements of section 131 of the Companies Act 
2006. The conditions of the relief include:
■■ Securing at least 90% of the nominal value of equity of another company .
■■ The arrangement provides for allotment of equity shares in the issuing company .
■■ Deferred consideration reserve represents the total value of equity that may be issued should specific earn-out 
agreements be achieved.
■■ Foreign exchange reserve represents the differences arising from translation of investments in overseas subsidiaries.
■■ Retained earnings represents retained profits.
Foreign Currencies
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction.
Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated at the rates of exchange ruling at the reporting date. 
Non-monetary items that are measured at historical cost in a foreign currency are translated at the exchange rate at the 
date of the transaction. Non-monetary items that are measured at fair value in a foreign currency are translated using the 
exchange rates at the date when the fair value was determined.
Any exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items or on translating monetary items at rates different 
from those at which they were initially recorded are recognised in the consolidated income statement in the period in which 
they arise.
Exchange differences on non-monetary items are recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income to 
the extent that they relate to a gain or loss on that non-monetary item taken to the statement of changes in equity, otherwise 
such gains and losses are recognised in the income statement.
The assets and liabilities in the financial statements of foreign subsidiaries and associates and related goodwill are 
translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the reporting date. Income and expenses are translated at the actual rate.  
The exchange differences arising from the retranslation of the opening net investment in subsidiaries and joint ventures  
are taken directly to the “Foreign exchange reserve” in equity .
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 47
Financial Statements
Employee Benefits
Equity Settled Share-Based Payment
This fair value is appraised at the grant date and excludes the impact of non-market vesting conditions.
All equity-settled share-based payments are ultimately recognised as an expense in the consolidated income statement 
with a corresponding credit to retained earnings.
If vesting periods or other non-market vesting conditions apply, the expense is allocated over the vesting period, based on 
the best available estimate of the number of share options expected to vest. Estimates are subsequently revised if there is 
any indication that the number of share options expected to vest differs from previous estimates.
No adjustment is made to any expense recognised in prior periods if share options ultimately exercised are different to that 
estimated on vesting.
Upon exercise of share options the proceeds received net of attributable transaction costs are credited to share capital 
and, where appropriate, share premium.
Contingent Consideration
Future anticipated payments to vendors in respect of earn-outs are based on the Directors’ best estimates of future 
obligations, which are dependent on the future performance of the interests acquired and assume the operating 
companies improve profits in line with Directors’ estimates. When consideration payable is deferred, the fair value of the 
consideration is obtained by discounting to present value the amounts expected to be payable in the future at a rate 
equivalent to a UK ten-year treasury gilt (or foreign equivalent), this being, in the Director’s opinion the most appropriate 
barometer for a risk-free rate.
Imputed Interest
When the outflow of cash or cash equivalents is deferred, and the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction,  
the fair value of the consideration is the present value of all future payments determined using an imputed rate of interest. 
The imputed rate of interest used is the weighted average cost of capital, this being, in the Director’s opinion the most 
appropriate barometer for underlying risk. The difference between the present value of all future payments and the nominal 
amount of the consideration is recognised as an interest charge. Imputed interest is shown within finance costs in the 
consolidated income statement.
Accounting Estimates and Judgements
In the process of applying the Group’s accounting policies the Directors are required to make estimates and adjustments 
that may affect the financial statements. The Directors believe that the estimates and judgements applied in the financial 
statements are reasonable.
Estimates and judgements are evaluated on a regular basis and are based on historical experience (where applicable)  
and other factors, such as expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.
The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. These estimates, by definition, will rarely equal  
the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment  
to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are discussed below. Where estimates  
and judgements have been made, the key factors taken into consideration are disclosed in the appropriate note in these 
consolidated financial statements. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
48 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements 
for the year ended 31 July 2010
Revenue Recognition
The Group is required to make an estimate of project completion levels on long-term contracts for revenue recognition 
purposes. This is based upon the project manager’s estimates and available time records against budgeted and assigned 
resource for the initial project scope. This involves an element of judgement, and therefore differences may arise between 
the actual and estimated result. Where differences do arise, they are recognised in the consolidated income statement for 
the following reporting period.
Share-Based Payments
The Group is required to make estimates regarding the assumptions that are used to calculate the income statement 
charge for share-based payments. Inputs to the calculations include (but are not limited to) expected volatility, expected 
life, risk-free rate, expected dividend yield and redemption rates. Variances in any of the inputs could lead to the charge 
being higher or lower than appropriate.
Income Taxes
The Group is subject to income taxes in various jurisdictions. Judgement is required in determining the worldwide provision 
for income taxes. There are many transactions/calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain during the 
ordinary course of business. Where the final tax outcome is different to what is initially recorded, such differences will 
impact the income tax and deferred tax provisions. Income taxes are disclosed fully in note 5.
Goodwill
The Group tests annually whether goodwill has suffered any impairment, in accordance with the accounting policy . The 
recoverable amount is based on value in use calculations. The use of this method requires the estimation of future cash 
flows and the choice of a suitable discount rate in order to calculate the present values of these cash flows. The estimates 
used in the impairment review are fully disclosed in note 9.
IFRS 3 (revised), “Business combinations” was adopted and applied prospectively by the Group in 2010. The revised 
standard continues to apply the acquisition method to business combinations, with some significant changes. For example, 
all payments to purchase a business are recorded at fair value at the acquisition date, with contingent payments classified 
as debt subsequently re-measured through the consolidated income statement. There is a choice on an acquisition-by-
acquisition basis to measure the non-controlling interest in the acquiree either at fair value or at the non-controlling interest’s 
proportionate share of the acquiree’s net assets. All acquisition-related costs are expensed.
Other Intangible Assets
The Group is required to identify and assess the useful life of intangible assets and determine if there is a finite or  
indefinite life. Judgement is required in determining if an intangible asset has a finite life and the extent of this finite life in 
order to calculate the amortisation charge on the asset. The Group tests at each reporting date whether intangible assets 
have suffered any indicators of impairment, in accordance with the accounting policy . The recoverable amount of cash-
generating units has been determined based on discounted future cash flows. These calculations require estimates to be 
made. Where there is no method of valuation for an intangible asset, management will make use of a valuation technique  
to determine the value of an intangible if there is no evidence of a market value. In doing so certain assumptions and 
estimates will be made. Intangible assets are fully disclosed in note 10. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 49
Financial Statements
Panel Incentive Provision
The Group is required to assess the likelihood that panel incentives earned by consumer panel members will be redeemed 
and maintain a provision to cover this potential liability . Factors taken into consideration include the absolute liability, 
redemption rates and panel activity rates. Whilst historical data can indicate trends and behaviours it is not an indication  
of the future. In arriving at the carrying value of the provision certain assumptions and estimates have to be made.  
The estimates used in calculating the panel incentive provision are fully disclosed in note 18.
Deferred Taxation
Judgement is required by management in determining whether the Group should recognise a deferred tax asset. 
Management consider whether there is sufficient certainty that its tax losses available to carry forward will ultimately  
be offset against future earnings, this judgement impacts on the degree to which deferred tax assets are recognised. 
Deferred taxation is disclosed fully in note 19.
Contingent Consideration
As part of the acquisitions, contingent consideration is payable to selling shareholders based on the future performance  
of the businesses. Judgement is required in estimating the magnitude of contingent consideration and the likelihood of 
payment. Contingent consideration is disclosed fully in note 17.
Standard and Interpretations in Issue but Not Yet Effective
The following new standards and amendments to existing standards are not yet effective:
■■ IFRS 9, “Financial instruments”. IFRS 9 is the first part of a new standard on classification and measurement of financial 
assets that will replace IAS 39. IFRS 9 has two measurement categories: amortised cost and fair value. All equity 
instruments are measured at fair value and debt instruments are at amortised cost if the entity is holding it to collect 
contractual cash flows and the cash flows represent principal and interest. Otherwise it is at fair value through profit or 
loss. This standard is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 and will impact the Group after 
that date. It has not yet been endorsed by the EU.
■■ Amendments to IFRS 1, “First-time adoption”.
■■ Amendment to IAS 32 on classification or rights issues.
■■ Amendment to IAS 24, “Related party disclosures”.
■■ Amendment to IFRS 1 on first-time adoption of IFRS additional exemptions.
■■ Amendments to IFRS 2, “Share-based payments” on Group cash-settled transactions.
Other than IFRS 9, the standards not yet effective are not currently expected to have a significant impact on the Group. 
Management will continue to review the impact that these standards may have.
The Directors anticipate that the adoption of these standards and interpretations in future periods will have no material 
impact on the consolidated financial statements of the Group. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
50 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
1 Revenue and Profit Before Taxation
Segmental Analysis
For internal reporting purposes the Group is organised into five operating divisions based on geographic lines – UK, 
Middle East and North Africa, Germany and Central Europe, Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and North America.  
These divisions are the basis on which the Group reports its segmental information. The Group only undertakes one  
class of business, that of market research.
  Middle East Germany Scandinavia 
  and North and Central and Northern North Consolidation 
 UK Africa Europe Europe America and unallocated Consolidated 
2010 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Revenue
External sales 11,681 7,210 13,687 6,953 4,703 – 44,234
Inter-segment sales 458 10 92 30 115 (705) –
Total revenue 12,139 7,220 13,779 6,983 4,818 (705) 44,234
Inter-segment sales are priced on an arm’s-length basis that would be available to unrelated third parties.
Segment result
Gross profit 9,633 4,632 10,616 5,271 4,180 25 34,357
Operating profit 3,359 1,429 418 52 527 (2,009) 3,776
Amortisation of intangibles (523) (185) (175) (108) (150) (2,548) (3,689)
Impairment of goodwill and  
intangible assets       (7,861)
Exceptional costs (1,038) (155) (169) (360) (112) – (1,834)
Finance income       205
Finance costs       (201)
Share of results of joint ventures       (8)
Loss before taxation       (9,612)
Tax credit       2,572
Profit after taxation       (7,040)
Other segment information
Depreciation  197 143 241 30 47 – 658
Share-based payments 23 – – – 125 – 148
Assets
Segment assets 17,481 17,843 18,418 12,671 19,996 (9,313) 77,096
Investments in joint ventures – – – – – – 23
Total assets       77,119
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 51
Financial Statements
1 Revenue and Profit Before Taxation continued
  Middle East Germany Scandinavia 
  and North and Central and Northern North Consolidation 
 UK Africa Europe Europe America and unallocated Consolidated 
2009 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Revenue
External sales 10,470 8,398 14,606 7,393 3,455 – 44,322
Inter-segment sales 619 2 199 35 23 (878) –
Total revenue 11,089 8,400 14,805 7,428 3,478 (878) 44,322
Inter-segment sales are priced on an arm’s-length basis that would be available to unrelated third parties.
Segment result
Gross profit 8,465 5,602 11,195 5,555 2,836 112 33,765
Operating profit/(loss) 1,992 2,848 696 (178) 184 (2,827) 2,715
Amortisation of intangibles (364) (73) (89) (60) (88) (2,471) (3,145)
Exceptional items (320) – (110) (180) – – (610)
Finance income       1,054
Finance costs       (650)
Share of results of joint ventures       (47)
Loss before taxation       (683)
Tax credit       842
Profit after taxation       159
Other segment information
Depreciation  132 77 262 38 44 4 557
Share-based payments 100 – – – 171 – 271
Assets
Segment assets 15,901 15,139 27,735 16,830 19,881 (11,252) 84,234
Investments in joint ventures – – 23 – – – 23
Total assets       84,257 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
52 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
1 Revenue and Profit Before Taxation continued
Differences between the origin and destination of revenue are material to the Group. Revenue by destination is 
presented below.
  Middle East Germany Scandinavia 
  and North and Central and Northern North Consolidation 
 UK Africa Europe Europe America and unallocated Consolidated 
2010 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Revenue by destination
External sales 15,498 2,282 14,470 7,065 4,919 – 44,234
Inter-segment sales 210 407 74 – 14 (705) –
Total revenue 15,708 2,689 14,544 7,065 4,933 (705) 44,234
Inter-segment sales are priced on an arm’s-length basis that would be available to unrelated third parties.
  Middle East Germany Scandinavia 
  and North and Central and Northern North Consolidation 
 UK Africa Europe Europe America and unallocated Consolidated 
2009 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Revenue by destination
External sales 15,547 2,094 15,416 7,202 4,063 – 44,322
Inter-segment sales 235 610 13 – 20 (878) –
Total revenue 15,782 2,704 15,429 7,202 4,083 (878) 44,322
Inter-segment sales are priced on an arm’s-length basis that would be available to unrelated third parties.
The profit before taxation is stated after charging:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Auditors’ remuneration:
Audit of the Group’s annual report and accounts 121 100
Audit of subsidiaries  41 –
Other assurance services 2 15
Taxation 14 25
Due diligence 120 –
Other advisory services 9 35
Disposals, depreciation and amortisation:
Depreciation of property , plant and equipment 658 557
Amortisation of intangible assets 3,689 3,145
Loss on disposal of property , plant and equipment – 53
Other operating lease rentals:
Plant and machinery 119 79
Land and buildings 1,435 1,312
Other expenses:
Exchange differences (348) 132
Share-based payment expenses 148 271
Research and development expenditure expensed – 310
Charitable and political donations 1 1
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 53
Financial Statements
2 Staff Numbers and Costs
Staff costs (including Directors) charged to administration expenses during the year were as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Wages and salaries 18,693 19,507
Social security costs 2,323 2,411
Share-based payments 148 271
Pension costs 329 242
Other benefits 1,269 544
  22,762 22,975
Pension costs arise only in our Scandinavian business. Contributions are made on behalf of employees to defined 
contribution schemes at statutory rates for the respective country .
The average monthly number of employees of the Group during the year was as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  Number Number
Key management personnel 23 22
Administration and operations 397 409
  420 431
Specific disclosures in relation to compensation for key management personnel (defined as Entity Directors and/or Chief 
Executive Officers) who held office during the year was as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Short-term employee benefits 2,700 2,549
Post-employment benefits 44 33
Share-based payments 5 37
  2,749 2,619
Disclosure of Directors’ remuneration including share options are included in the remuneration report on pages 25 to 26.
3 Exceptional Costs
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Restructuring costs 683 783
Acquisition costs 271 –
Change in accounting estimation – panel incentives provision 600 –
Employment termination  280 –
Aborted acquisition costs – (173)
  1,834 610
Restructuring costs arose due to the termination of operations of certain divisions within the UK, German and 
Scandinavian businesses.
Acquisition costs comprise professional fees incurred relating to the acquisition of Harrison Group which was completed 
after the year-end. IFRS 3 (revised) requires these to be expensed at the time that they are incurred. Further information  
is provided in note 26. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
54 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
3 Exceptional Costs continued
A change in accounting estimation was made in the panel incentives provision, primarily due to the increasing maturity  
of the UK panel. Further information is provided in note 18.
Employment termination costs are discussed in detail on page 25 within the remuneration report. The aborted acquisition 
cost credit in 2009 relates to an over accrual in the prior year .
4 Finance Income and Costs
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Interest receivable from bank deposits 148 327
Other interest receivable 88 2
Foreign exchange (losses)/gains on cash held in foreign currency denominated accounts (31) 725
Total finance income 205 1,054
Interest payable on bank loans and overdrafts 32 68
Interest on obligations under hire purchase and finance leases 2 1
Other interest payable – 40
Foreign exchange losses on intra-Group loan positions 119 383
  153 492
Finance cost of deferred consideration 48 158
Total finance costs 201 650
5 Income Taxes
The taxation charge represents:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Current tax 199 157
Adjustments in respect of prior years (10) 258
Total current tax charge 189 415
Origination and reversal of temporary differences:
Current year (3,270) (1,463)
Adjustments in respect of prior years 509 206
Total deferred tax (2,761) (1,257)
Total income statement tax credit (2,572) (842)
 
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 55
Financial Statements
4 Finance Income and Costs continued
The tax assessed for the year is lower (2009: higher) than the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK.
The differences are explained below:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Loss before tax (9,612) (683)
Tax benefit calculated at Group’s standard rate of 28% (2009: 28%) 2,690 191
Variance in overseas tax  501 1,431
Impact of tax rate change in current year (67) –
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes (371) (387)
Tax losses for which no deferred income tax asset was recognised (192) (189)
Tax deduction in respect of share options exercised – 44
Adjustment in respect of prior years 10 (259)
Share of tax loss of joint venture 1 11
Total income tax credit for the year 2,572 842
A number of changes to the UK corporation tax system were announced in the June 2010 Budget Statement. The Finance 
(No 2) Act 2010, which was substantively enacted on 20 July 2010, includes legislation reducing the main rate of corporation 
tax from 28% to 27% from 1 April 2011. Further reductions to the main rate are proposed to reduce the rate by 1% per 
annum to 24% by 1 April 2014. Only changes substantively enacted at reporting date are included in these consolidated 
financial statements.
6 Dividend
No dividend was paid or proposed during the year (2009: £nil). Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
56 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
7 Earnings Per Share
The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders divided  
by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year . Shares held in employee share trusts are treated  
as cancelled for the purposes of this calculation.
The calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on the basic earnings per share, adjusted to allow for the issue  
of shares and the post tax effect of dividends and/or interest, on the assumed conversion of all dilutive options and other 
dilutive potential ordinary shares.
The adjusted earnings per share has been calculated to reflect the underlying profitability of the business by excluding the 
amortisation of intangible assets, share-based payments, imputed interest, impairment charges, exceptional items and any 
related tax effects.
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Group loss after taxation attributable to equity holders of the parent Company (7,534) (544)
Add: amortisation of intangible assets 3,689 3,145
Add: share-based payments 148 271
Add: imputed interest 48 158
Add: impairment charge  7,861 –
Add: exceptional costs 1,834 610
Tax effect of the above adjustments (3,624) (1,384)
Adjusted profit 2,422 2,256
 
Reconciliations of the earnings and weighted average number of shares used in the calculations are set out below.
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009
Number of shares
Weighted average number of shares during the period: (’000 shares)
– Basic 96,777 96,244
– Dilutive effect of share options – –
– Diluted 96,777 96,244
Basic loss per share (in pence) (7.8) (0.6)
Adjusted basic earnings per share (in pence) 2.5 2.3
Diluted loss per share (in pence) (7.8) (0.6)
Adjusted diluted earnings per share (in pence) 2.5 2.3
The adjustments have the following effect:
  p p
Basic (loss) per share (7.8) (0.6)
Amortisation of intangible assets 3.8 3.3
Share-based payments 0.2 0.3
Imputed interest – 0.1
Exceptional costs and impairments 10.0 0.6
Tax effect of the above adjustments (3.7) (1.4)
Adjusted earnings per share 2.5 2.3
Diluted loss per share (7.8) (0.6)
Amortisation of intangible assets 3.8 3.3
Share-based payments 0.2 0.3
Imputed interest – 0.1
Exceptional costs and impairments 10.0 0.6
Tax effect of the above adjustments (3.7) (1.4)
Adjusted diluted earnings per share 2.5 2.3
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 57
Financial Statements
8 Business Combinations
Purchase of Minority Shareholding in ServiceRating
On 11 March 2010, YouGovPsychonomics AG purchased the 40% shareholding in its subsidiary, ServiceRating, which it 
did not already own, from the minority shareholders.
The consideration for this purchase was £291,000. The book value of non-controlling interests at the transaction date was 
£128,000. The difference of £163,000 has been reflected directly in reserves in accordance with IAS 27 (revised).
9 Goodwill
   North Scandinavia and Germany and  
  Middle East America Northern Europe Central Europe UK Total 
  £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Carrying amount  
at 1 August 2008  1,113 7,172  9,808 15,388 19 33,500
Movements:
Through business  
combinations  – 1,124 – – – 1,124
Entity creation costs  – – – – 61 61
Revision to contingent  
deferred consideration  – – (2,213) (2,507) – (4,720)
Net exchange differences  206 1,141 825 1,345 – 3,517
Carrying amount  
at 31 July 2009  1,319 9,437 8,420 14,226 80 33,482
Movements:
Impairment charge  – – – (2,399) – (2,399)
Net exchange differences  86 615 (217) (364) – 120
Carrying amount  
at 31 July 2010  1,405 10,052 8,203 11,463 80 31,203
Other goodwill represents legal fees incurred in the establishment of new subsidiaries.
In accordance with the Group’s accounting policy, the carrying values of goodwill and other intangible assets are reviewed 
annually for impairment. The cash-generating units (CGUs) are consistent with those segments shown in note 1. The 2010 
impairment review was undertaken as at 31 July 2010. This review assessed whether the carrying value of goodwill was 
supported by the net present value of future cash flows derived from assets using an initial projection period of three years 
for each CGU based on approved budget numbers. Beyond that, EBITDA growth was assumed to be 5% for Scandinavia 
and the Middle East and 12% for the USA for years four and five which is conservative both in comparison with their 
historical performance and annual growth rates in the internet-based market research sector . Annual growth rates of 3% 
have been assumed in perpetuity beyond year five. The weighted average pre-tax cost of capital used to discount the 
future cash flows to their present value is 14.1% (2009: 16.5%).
During the current year , there was an indication of impairment for the German business due to the impact of local market 
conditions and trading performance. Although management are taking corrective actions to address it the impact has been 
judged to be sufficiently severe to indicate impairment to the carrying value of the assets within the German business. 
Management has assessed the carrying value of the German intangible assets (customer contracts and lists and patents 
and trademarks) and judge that an impairment charge of £5.5m is required. An assessment of the carrying value of the 
remaining assets within the German business has resulted in an impairment charge of £2.4m against goodwill. A total 
impairment charge of £7.9m has been recorded in the consolidated income statement. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
58 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
10 Other Intangible Assets
  Software Customer 
 Consumer and software contracts Patents and Order Development  
 panel development and lists trademarks backlog costs Total 
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Net carrying amount  
at 1 August 2008 5,105 1,255 4,840 5,712 – 206 17,118
Additions:
 Separately acquired 447 787 – 42 – 28 1,304
 Internally developed – 590 – – – 126 716
 Through business  
 combinations – – 638 – 48 – 686
Amortisation (1,447) (709) (445) (455) (48) (41) (3,145)
Reclassification – – – – – (37) (37)
Net exchange  
differences 454 86 284 462 – 12 1,298
Net carrying amount  
at 31 July 2009 4,559 2,009 5,317 5,761 – 294 17,940
Additions:
 Separately acquired 285 387 – 47 – 320 1,039
 Internally developed – 801 – – – 197 998
Amortisation (1,653) (1,035) (443) (456) – (102) (3,689)
Impairment – – (2,479) (2,983) – – (5,462)
Net exchange  
differences (56) (37) (84) (92) – (12) (281)
Net carrying amount  
at 31 July 2010 3,135 2,125 2,311 2,277 – 697 10,545
The details of the impairment charge of £5.5m are disclosed in note 9.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 59
Financial Statements
11 Property, Plant and Equipment
  Leasehold 
 Freehold property Computer Fixtures Motor 
 property improvements equipment and fittings vehicles Total 
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Carrying amount at 1 August 2008 946 203 392 611 65 2,217
Additions:
 Separately acquired 28 16 414 274 – 732
 Acquired through acquisitions – – 7 – – 7
Disposals – (8) (1) (7) – (16)
Depreciation – (65) (281) (172) (39) (557)
Net exchange differences 173 14 34 19 6 246
Carrying amount at 31 July 2009 1,147 160 565 725 32 2,629
Additions:
 Separately acquired – 42 185 55 – 282
Depreciation (54) (68) (272) (232) (32) (658)
Net exchange differences (64) (8) (26) (31) – 129
Carrying amount at 31 July 2010 1,157 142 504 579 – 2,382
All property , plant and equipment disclosed above, with the exception of those items held under lease purchase agreement, 
is free from restrictions on title. No property , plant and equipment either in 2010 or 2009 has been pledged as security 
against the liabilities of the Group. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
60 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
12 Investments
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Interest in joint ventures (b) 23 23
a) Interests in Subsidiaries
As at 31 July 2010 the Group’s principal trading subsidiaries were:
    Proportion Proportion 
  Country of Class of share held by parent held by the Nature 
  incorporation capital held Company Group of the business
YouGovM.E. FZ LLC United Arab  Ordinary 78% 78% Market research 
  Emirates
YouGovPsychonomics AG  
(formerly psychonomics AG) Germany Ordinary 100% 100% Market research
ServiceRating GmbH Germany Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
psychonomics Field Germany Ordinary 0% 70% Market research
GPW Deutschland GmbH Germany Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
Y ouGov Nordic & Baltic A/S (formerly Zapera.com A/S) Denmark Ordinary 100% 100% Market research
YouGov Sweden AB (formerly Zapera Sweden AB) Sweden  Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
Y ouGov Norway AS (formerly Zapera Receptor Norway AS) Norway  Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
Zapera Finland OY Finland  Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
BUZ ApS Denmark  Ordinary 0% 51% Market research
YouGov America Inc USA Ordinary 0% 100% Market research
YouGovStone Limited England Ordinary 51% 51% Market research
YouGovAlpha Limited England Ordinary 100% 100% Market research
All subsidiaries with the exception of YouGov Alpha Ltd have co-terminus year ends and are included in the consolidated 
financial statements.
b) Interest in Joint Ventures
At 31 July 2010 the Group had interests in the following joint ventures:
    Proportion Proportion 
 Joint Country of Class of share held by parent held by the Nature Financial 
 venture incorporation capital held Company Group of the business year end
YouGovCentaur LLP JV England Ordinary 50% 50% Specialist 30 June 
       business to 
        business 
       research
psychonomics Advisory  
(formerly Comema AG) JV Germany Ordinary 0% 50% Market 31 July 
       research
The Group’s share of the revenue and operating (loss) and assets and liabilities of YouGovCentaur LLP are:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Revenue – 2
Operating loss (4) (16)
Non-current assets 3 4
Current assets 18 51
Current liabilities (59) (31)
Non-current liabilities (39) (79)
Net liabilities (77) (55)
 
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 61
Financial Statements
13 Trade and Other Receivables
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Trade receivables 7,749 8,502
Amounts owed by related parties 123 116
Other receivables 967 519
Prepayments and accrued income 5,916 4,673
  14,755 13,810
Provision for trade and other receivables (194) (132)
  14,561 13,678
The ageing of the current trade receivables is as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Within payment terms 2,966 2,584
Not more than three months overdue 3,156 3,405
More than three months but not more than six months overdue 911 1,016
More than six months but not more than one year overdue 327 720
More than one year overdue 389 777
  7,749 8,502
The Group’s trade receivables are stated before provisions for impaired receivables. This provision is determined by 
considering all past due balances and by reference to past default experience.
Movement on the Group provision for impairment of trade receivables is as follows:
  2010 2009 
  £000 £000
Provision for receivables impairment at 1 August 132 –
Provision created in the year 166 132
Provision utilised in the year (104) –
Provision for receivables impairment at 31 July 194 132
The creation and release of the provision for impaired receivables has been included in the consolidated income statement. 
The other classes within trade and other receivables do not contain impaired assets. The maximum exposure to credit risk 
at the reporting date is the carrying value or each class of receivable mentioned above. The Group does not hold any 
collateral as security .
The Directors consider that the carrying value of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value. Concentrations 
of credit risk do exist with certain clients with which we have trading relationships but none has a history of default and all 
command a certain stature within the marketplace which minimises any potential risk of default. Material balances (defined 
as >£250,000 (2009: >£250,000)) represent 23% of trade receivables (2009: 36%).
At 31 July 2010, £290,000 (DKK 2.6m) (2009: £352,000 (DKK 3.1m)) of the trade and other receivables of YouGov Nordic  
& Baltic A/S was used as security against a loan and revolving overdraft facility held by YouGov Nordic & Baltic A/S.
At 31 July 2010, YouGovPsychonomics AG had the option to borrow €40,000 (£33,000) (2009: €300,000 (£256,000)) which 
is secured against the trade and other receivables of the business. At 31 July 2010 £nil (2009: £nil) had been drawn down.
YouGovPsychonomics AG has secured a value of up to €144,000 (£120,000) (2009: €280,000 (£239,000)) in the event of 
default on rental payments against its trade and other receivables. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
62 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
14 Other Short-Term Financial Assets
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Available-for-sale financial assets 165 211
Other short-term financial assets represent corporate bonds that present the Group with opportunity for returns through 
interest income and trading gains. They have a fixed maturity of less than three months. The investment was held at cost  
at both 31 July 2010 and 31 July 2009. Fair value of the asset was not materially different from its historical cost.
15 Cash and Cash Equivalents
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Cash at bank and in hand 15,634 12,718
Cash and cash equivalents are held at either variable rates or at rates fixed for periods of no longer than three months.
16 Trade and Other Payables
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Trade payables 1,416 858
Accruals and deferred income 7,040 5,509
Other payables 1,690 1,575
  10,146 7,942
The creditor days as at the year end is 34 (2009: 19 days). The Directors consider that the carrying amount of trade 
payables approximates to their fair value.
The Group has sufficient financial risk management policies in place to ensure that all trade payables are settled within the 
respective credit period.
17 Deferred Consideration
In the year ended 31 July 2010 the Group paid deferred consideration of £0.3m, thus reducing its outstanding obligations 
for deferred consideration from £1.0m to £0.7m. All of this relates to the acquisition of Clear Horizons LLC which took place 
in April 2009.
 Within  Greater than 
 one year one year Total 
 £000 £000 £000
At 31 July 2009 317 651 968
At 31 July 2010 304 360 664
Clear Horizons
Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement dated 24 April 2009 a maximum of £1.3m is payable over the three 
years ending 30 April 2012 if performance is in excess of the business plan agreed with the management of Clear 
Horizons LLC. A provision of £1.0m was made in 2009 reflecting the amount expected to be payable based on Clear 
Horizons’ business plan. The first earn-out target in respect of the year ended 30 April 2010 was met and accordingly 
£0.3m was paid out.
Receptor
In the year ended 31 July 2010, £20,000 was paid in line with the agreement. The balance of £20,000 has been released  
in the period due to full targets not being met.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 63
Financial Statements
18 Provisions
 Panel Staff 
 incentives gratuity Total 
 £000 £000 £000
At 1 August 2008 1,280 110 1,390
Provided during the year 2,456 70 2,526
Utilised during the year (1,887) (29) (1,916)
Released during the year (284) (63) (347)
Net foreign exchange differences 65 20 85
At 31 July 2009 1,630 108 1,738
Included within current liabilities 1,630 108 1,738
  1,630 108 1,738
Provided during the year 3,835 127 3,962
Utilised during the year (2,625) (116) (2,741)
Released during the year (279) (36) (315)
Net foreign exchange differences 25 7 32
At 31 July 2010 2,586 90 2,676
Included within current liabilities 1,278 – 1,278
Included within non-current liabilities 1,308 90 1,398
The panel incentive provision represents the Directors’ best estimate of the future liability in relation to the value of panel 
incentives that have accrued in the panellists’ virtual accounts up to 31 July 2010. The provision of £2.6m represents 30% 
of the maximum potential liability of £8.6m (2009: £1.6m representing 25% of the total liability of £6.6m). The factors 
considered in estimating the appropriate percentage of the total liability to be provided against at each reporting date 
include: panel churn rates, panel activity rates, current redemption patterns and the time value of money .
In the year ended 31 July 2010, due to a change in profile of the UK panel resulting from its maturity, a change in 
accounting estimation was made resulting in an adjustment being made to the provision of £0.6m which has been treated 
as an exceptional item.
The staff gratuity provision is a statutory obligation under UAE labour law, whereby each employee on termination of their 
contract is due a payment dependent upon their number of years’ service and nature of the termination. The liability of 
£0.1m at 31 July 2010 (2009: £0.1m) represents the liability that the Group is obliged to pay as at the reporting date 
weighted against historical rates of resignation and redundancy . Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
64 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
19 Deferred Taxation Assets and Liabilities
 Property, plant   Other timing 
 and equipment  Tax losses differences Total 
Non-current deferred tax asset £000 £000 £000 £000
Balance at 1 August 2008 27 1,413 127 1,567
Recognised in consolidated income statement – 760 (127) 633
Net foreign exchange differences – 226 – 226
Other movement – 84 – 84
Balance at 31 July 2009 27 2,483 – 2,510
Recognised in consolidated income statement 33 90 – 123
Tax rate adjustment – (79)  (79)
Net foreign exchange differences – 52 – 52
Balance at 31 July 2010 60 2,546 – 2,606
The deferred taxation asset in respect of income tax losses are broken down by jurisdiction as follows:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
UK 626 571
Germany and Central Europe – 9
Scandinavia and Northern Europe 780 645
North America 1,140 1,258
  2,546 2,483
Where tax losses are acquired as in our North American business a restriction is placed upon the use of those pre-
acquisition losses. The restriction is calculated by multiplying the long-term rate of interest (currently 4.58%) against the 
consideration paid. On this basis the current value of loss that can be used annually is £0.7m. No such restrictions exist  
in relation to any of our other tax losses.
Deferred tax assets have been recognised only to the extent where management budgets and forecasts show sufficient 
profits being generated to discharge these in the short term. Utilisation of tax losses is dependable upon future profits 
being generated.
 Intangible Property, plant  Other timing 
 assets and equipment  differences Total 
Non-current deferred tax liabilities £000 £000 £000 £000
Balance at 1 August 2008 5,555 124 81 5,760
Acquired on acquisition 293 – – 293
Recognised in consolidated income statement (774) 256 107 (445)
Net foreign exchange differences 447 6 10 497
Balance at 31 July 2009 5,521 386 198 6,105
Recognised in consolidated income statement (2,675) (226) 196 (2,705)
Tax rate adjustment (4) (1) (7) (12)
Net foreign exchange differences (124) 36 (2) (90)
Balance at 31 July 2010 2,718 195 385 3,298
 
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 65
Financial Statements
20 Risk Management Objectives and Policies
The Group is exposed to foreign currency and liquidity risk, which result from both its operating and investing activities.  
The Group’s risk management is co-ordinated in close co-operation with the Board of Directors, and focuses on actively 
securing the Group’s short- to medium-term cash flows by minimising the exposure to financial markets. The most 
significant financial risks to which the Group is exposed to are described below. Also refer to the accounting policies.
Foreign Currency Risk
The Group is exposed to translation and transaction foreign exchange risk. The currencies where the Group is most 
exposed to volatility are US Dollars, Euro, UAE Dirham and Danish Kroner .
Currently, the Group aims to align assets and liabilities in a particular market and no hedging instruments are used.  
The Group will continue to review its currency risk position as the overall business profile changes.
The presentational and transactional currency of the Group is considered to be UK Sterling.
Foreign currency denominated financial assets and liabilities, translated into UK Sterling at the closing rate are as follows:
 2010 2009 
  £000 £000
 
 US Euro Dirham Kroner US Euro Dirham Kroner 
Nominal amounts $ € AED DKK $ € AED DKK
Financial assets 5,166 2,268 7,916 777 3,746 1,807 5,930 909
Financial liabilities (133) (1,009) (74) (1,177) (130) (834) (29) (1,143)
Short-term exposure 5,033 1,259 7,842 (400) 3,616 973 5,901 (234)
Financial assets – – – – – – – –
Financial liabilities – – – – – – (4) (18)
Long-term exposure – – – – – – (4) (18)
The effect of UK Sterling strengthening by 1% against our subsidiaries’ functional currencies (US Dollar , Euro, UAE Dirham 
and Danish Kroner) would have had the following impact upon translation:
 2010 2009 
  £000 £000
 
 US Euro Dirham Kroner US Euro Dirham Kroner 
 $ € AED DKK $ € AED DKK
Net result for the year (1) 1 (15) 5 1 (2) (31) 5
Equity (41) (10) (174) 1 (149) (207) (148) (115)
If the UK Sterling had weakened by 1% against the US Dollar , Euro, UAE Dirham and Danish Kroner the inverse of the 
impact above would be true.
The Group manages currency fluctuations as outlined in the corporate governance report on page 29. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
66 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
20 Risk Management Objectives and Policies continued
Liquidity Risk
The Group seeks to manage financial risk by ensuring sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable needs and to 
invest cash assets safely and profitably .
The Group currently has no general borrowing arrangement in place (although specific fixed value borrowings are held 
within the Group) and prepares cash flow forecasts which are reviewed at Board meetings to ensure liquidity .
As at 31 July 2010, the Group’s liabilities have contractual maturities which are summarised below:
  Current Non-current
  
 Within Six to One to Later than 
  six months 12 months five years five years 
31 July 2010 £000 £000 £000 £000
Trade and other payables 3,161 35 – –
Borrowing principal payments 2 2 2 –
Borrowing interest payments – – – –
This compares to the maturity of the Group’s financial liabilities in the previous reporting period as follows:
  Current Non-current
  
 Within Six to One to Later than 
  six months 12 months five years five years 
31 July 2009 £000 £000 £000 £000
Trade and other payables 2,433 – – –
Borrowing principal payments 226 2 22 –
Borrowing interest payments – – – –
Capital Risk Management
The Group manages its capital to ensure that all entities within the Group are able to continue as going concerns. The Board 
have taken the decision at this stage to minimise external debt whilst trying to maximise earnings from the cash currently 
held. Capital consists of the following items:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Available-for-sale financial assets 165 211
Cash and cash equivalents 15,634 12,718
Borrowings – (242)
Finance leases (4) (8)
Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent Company (56,168) (63,708)
  (40,373) (51,029)
The Group has no externally imposed capital requirements.
Interest Rate Risk
The Group manages its interest rate risk by negotiating fixed interest rates on deposits for periods of up to three months. 
The average cash and cash equivalents balance over the course of the year was £15.0m (2010: £13.1m) attracting an 
average interest rate of 1.0% (2009: 2.5%). If interest rates had been 1% higher during the year ended 31 July 2010  
the increase to profit before tax would have been £150,000 (2009: £124,000). If interest rates had been 1% lower during 
the year ended 31 July 2010 the reduction in profit before tax would have been £150,000 (2009: £124,000). The impact 
upon shareholders’ equity would have been an increase of £100,000 (2009: £94,000) and a decrease of £100,000 (2009: 
£92,000) respectively .
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 67
Financial Statements
21 Share Capital
The Company only has one class of share. Par value of each Ordinary Share is 0.2p. All issued shares are fully paid.
 Number £000
Year to 31 July 2010
At 1 August 2009 96,733,177 193
Issue of shares 94,237 1
At 31 July 2010 96,827,414 194
Year to 31 July 2009
At 1 August 2008 94,876,425 190
Issue of shares 1,856,752 3
At 31 July 2009 96,733,177 193
 Number £000
Authorised share capital
At 31 July 2010
Ordinary Shares @ 0.2p each 150,000,000 300
At 31 July 2009
Ordinary Shares @ 0.2p each 150,000,000 300
Share-Based Payments
The charge in relation to the share-based payments in the year ended 31 July 2010 was £134,000 (2009: £201,000).  
Details of the number of share options and the weighted average exercise price (WAEP) outstanding during the year are 
as follows:
 2010 WAEP 2009 WAEP
  
 Number £ Number £
Approved share option scheme
Outstanding at the beginning of the year 129,056 0.869 483,095 0.646
Granted during the year – –  –   – 
Exercised during the year – – (219,938) 0.341
Lapsed during the year – – (134,101) 0.932
Outstanding at the end of the year 129,056 0.869 129,056 0.869
Exercisable at the end of the year 129,056 0.869 108,816 0.725
 2010 WAEP 2009 WAEP
  
 Number £ Number £
Unapproved share option scheme
Outstanding at the beginning of the year 538,990 0.211 1,410,703 0.219
Granted during the year – – 14,250 0.180
Exercised during the year (94,237) 0.112 (714,769) 0.222
Lapsed during the year (6,522) 0.190 (171,194) 0.229
Outstanding at the end of the year 438,231 0.232 538,990 0.211
Exercisable at the end of the year 379,057 0.236 387,014 0.207
Share options exercised in the current financial year were exercised at prices between £0.093 and £0.199. The weighted 
average share price at the date of exercise was £0.112. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
68 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
21 Share Capital continued
The options outstanding under the approved and unapproved share option schemes as at 31 July 2010 have the following 
average exercise prices and expire in the following financial years.
 Exercise price 2010 2009 
Expiry £ Number Number
31 July 2013 0.180 24,000 24,000
31 July 2015 0.180 44,335 44,335
31 July 2017 1.645 82,067 82,067
31 August 2021* 0.160 416,885 517,644
* The Polimetrix options expire on a monthly basis up to and including August 2021.
Expiry dates as standard are seven years from the vesting date. Vesting criteria are time based and contingent on 
continued employment with YouGov rather than performance based.
During the year ended 31 July 2010 the Long Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) for Executive Directors, Senior Executives and 
Senior Managers continued to operate. The rules governing the LTIP are summarised in the remuneration report on page 
25. The charge in relation to the LTIP in the year ended 31 July 2010 was £14,000 (2009: £70,000). This charge was valued 
using a Monte Carlo simulation.
 2010 WAEP 2009 WAEP
  
 Number £ Number £
Long-term incentive plan (LTIP)
Outstanding at the beginning of the year 2,034,655 0.000  –  –
Granted during the year 1,891,337 0.000 2,034,655 0.000
Exercised during the year – – –  –
Lapsed during the year – – –  –
Outstanding at the end of the year 3,925,992 0.000 2,034,655 0.000
Exercisable at the end of the year – – –  –
The profit and loss charge for share-based payments is disclosed in note 1.
22 Leasing Commitments
The minimum lease rentals to be paid under non-cancellable operating leases at 31 July 2010 are as follows:
 31 July 2010 31 July 2009
  
 Land and  Land and  
 buildings Other  buildings Other 
 £000 £000 £000 £000
In one year or less 1,191 84 1,179 84
Between one and five years 1,046 140 2,209 181
In five years or more 15 34 299 34
  2,252 258 3,687 299
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 69
Financial Statements
23 Capital Commitments
At 31 July 2010, the Group had no outstanding commitments to procure software (2009: £183,000).
24 Major Non-Cash Transactions
The Group entered into a barter transaction with Centaur plc, a joint venture partner , to exchange the provision  
of BrandIndex content for advertising within its publications for £327,000 (2009: £327,000).
Other barter transactions totalled £136,000 (2009: £133,000).
25 Transactions With Directors and Other Related Parties
There have been no transactions with Directors during the year .
During the year goods and services were procured from IPBD Limited by YouGov ME FZ LLC totalling £1,367,000 (2009: 
£1,144,000). IPBD Limited is a company which is owned by the parents of Nadhim Zahawi, a Director of YouGov plc until 
7 May 2010. The purchases were made at arm’s length and on usual commercial terms. A balance of £34,000 remained  
as at 31 July 2010 (2009: £nil).
During the year , YouGov plc provided research services totalling £36,000 (2009: £194,000) to Privero Capital Advisors Inc. 
Minority stakes in this company are owned by Stephan Shakespeare and Balshore Investments (the family trust of Nadhim 
Zahawi’s family), each of whom control 25% of the company . The sales were made at arm’s length and on usual 
commercial terms. At 31 July 2010 Privero Capital Advisors Inc owed YouGov plc £116,000 (2009: £599,000).
At 31 July 2010, Doughty Media, a company which Stephan Shakespeare owns, owed YouGov plc £nil (2009: £163,000).
Trading between YouGov plc and Group companies is excluded from the related party note as this had been eliminated  
on consolidation. At 31 July 2010, the amounts owed by Centaur LLP , a joint venture was £123,000 (2009: £116,000).
26 Events After the Reporting Period
The acquisition of Harrison Group, one of the USA ’s leading market and strategic research firms was completed on 
16 August 2010. The basic purchase consideration payable will be six times the EBITDA achieved by Harrison in the year 
ended 31 December 2010. $6m (£4m) of this was paid on completion and the balance will be payable in instalments 
between 2011 and 2013, contingent upon the results achieved in 2010 and 2011. An additional payment of up to $1.25m 
(£0.8m) will be payable in 2013 contingent upon strong EBITDA growth targets being achieved in the calendar years 2011 
and 2012. Based on Harrison’s current business plans, the total consideration payable is expected to be approximately 
$13m (£8m). This transaction will be funded entirely from the Group’s existing cash resources.
At completion, Harrison had net assets of approximately $2m (£1.3m) including net current assets of $1.4m. For the year 
ended 31 December 2009, Harrison reported revenues of approximately $9.6m (£6m) and adjusted EBITDA of $0.3m 
(£0.2m). On a trailing 12 months basis to 31 March 2010, Harrison’s pro-forma revenues were $10.6m (£6.9m) and its 
adjusted EBITDA (excluding certain non-recurring revenues and costs) was $1.0m (£0.7m).
No other material events have taken place subsequent to the reporting date. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
70 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of YouGov plc  
on the Parent Company Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010
Opinion on Other Matter Prescribed by the Companies 
Act 2006
In our opinion the information given in the Directors’ report 
for the financial year for which the parent Company financial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the parent 
Company financial statements.
Matters on Which We Are Required to Report by Exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following 
matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to 
report to you if, in our opinion:
■■ adequate accounting records have not been kept by the 
parent Company, or returns adequate for our audit have 
not been received from branches not visited by us; or 
■■ the parent Company financial statements are not in 
agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 
■■ certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration specified 
by law are not made; or 
■■ we have not received all the information and explanations 
we require for our audit.
Other Matters
We have reported separately on the Group financial 
statements of YouGov plc for the year ended 31 July 2010.
David A Snell (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 
London 
8 October 2010
We have audited the parent Company financial statements 
of YouGov plc for the year ended 31 July 2010 which 
comprise the balance sheet, the accounting policies and 
the related notes. The financial reporting framework that  
has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and 
United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom 
Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Respective Responsibilities of Directors and Auditors
As explained more fully in the statement of Directors’ 
responsibilities, the Directors are responsible for the 
preparation of the parent Company financial statements  
and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. 
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and International Standards 
on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us  
to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical 
Standards for Auditors.
This report, including the opinions, has been prepared  
for and only for the Company’s members as a body in 
accordance with Sections 495 and 496 of the Companies 
Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving 
these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any 
other purpose or to any other person to whom this report  
is shown or into whose hands it may come save where 
expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.
Scope of the Audit of the Financial Statements
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts  
and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to  
give reasonable assurance that the financial statements  
are free from material misstatement, whether caused by 
fraud or error . This includes an assessment of: whether  
the accounting policies are appropriate to the parent 
Company’s circumstances and have been consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness  
of significant accounting estimates made by the Directors; 
and the overall presentation of the financial statements.
Opinion on Financial Statements 
In our opinion the parent Company financial statements: 
■■ give a true and fair view of the state of the Company’s 
affairs as at 31 July 2010;
■■ have been properly prepared in accordance with United 
Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and 
■■ have been prepared in accordance with the requirements 
of the Companies Act 2006. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 71
Financial Statements
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
 Notes £000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 3 191 241
Tangible assets 4 380 1,399
Investments 5 33,546 37,448
   34,117 39,088
Current assets
Debtors 6 13,070 9,771
Cash at bank and in hand  5,424 5,621
   18,494 15,392
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 7 (11,104) (8,516)
Net current assets  7,390 6,876
Total assets less current liabilities  41,507 45,964
Provisions for liabilities and charges 8 (171) (252)
Net assets  41,336 45,712
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 10 194 193
Share premium account  30,822 30,811
Merger reserve  9,239 9,239
Profit and loss account  1,081 5,469
Total shareholders’ funds 9 41,336 45,712
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 October 2010 and signed on its behalf by:
Alan Newman 
Chief Financial Officer
Company Balance Sheet as at 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
72 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Basis of Preparation
The separate financial statements of the Company are drawn up in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and 
applicable accounting standards drawn from UK generally accepted accounting principles (UK GAAP). The financial 
statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and on the going concern basis.
The Company has also taken advantage of the exemption from preparing a cash flow statement under the terms of FRS 1 
“Cash flow statement (revised 1996)”. The cash flows of the Company are disclosed as part of the consolidated cash flow 
statement within the consolidated financial statements.
The particular accounting policies adopted are detailed below. They have all been applied consistently throughout the 
current year and the prior year .
Related Parties
The Company has taken advantage of the exemption contained in FRS 8 “Related party disclosures” and has not reported 
transactions with fellow Group undertakings.
Panel Incentive Costs
The Company invites consumer panel members to fill out polls for a cash incentive. Although these amounts are not paid 
until a pre-determined target value has accrued on a panellist’s account, an assessment of incentives likely to be paid is 
made and is recognised as a cost of sale in the period in which the service is provided.
Share-Based Payments
All goods and services received in exchange for the grant of any share-based payment are measured at their fair values. 
Where employees are rewarded using share-based payments, the fair values of employees’ services are determined 
indirectly by reference to the fair value of the instrument granted to the employee. This fair value is appraised at the grant 
date and excludes the impact of non-market vesting conditions (for example, profitability and sales growth targets).
Where equity-settled share-based payments relate to employees of the Company these are ultimately recognised as an 
expense in the profit and loss account with a corresponding credit to the profit and loss reserve. Where equity-settled 
share-based payments relate to employees of subsidiaries of the Company these are treated as a capital contribution, 
increasing the value of the investment in the subsidiary with a corresponding credit to the profit and loss reserve.
If vesting periods or other non-market vesting conditions apply, the expense is allocated over the vesting period, based on 
the best available estimate of the number of share options expected to vest. Estimates are revised subsequently if there is 
any indication that the number of share options expected to vest differs from previous estimates. Any cumulative adjustment 
prior to vesting is recognised in the current period. No adjustment is made to any expense recognised in prior periods if 
share options that have vested are not exercised.
Upon exercise of share options, the proceeds received net of attributable transaction costs are credited to share capital, 
and where appropriate share premium.
Intangible Fixed Assets and Amortisation
Panel acquisition costs reflect the direct, external cost of recruiting new panel members. A formula based on panel churn for 
the preceding 12 months determines the element which is enhancement and that which is maintenance. Only enhancement 
is capitalised at cost to the Company less accumulated amortisation. Amortisation is charged so as to write off the panel 
acquisition costs over three years, this being the Directors’ estimate of the average active life of a panel member .
Trademark costs reflect the direct cost of trademarks acquired to protect the YouGov brand and its products. Amortisation 
is not charged as trademarks are infinite in their longevity . The Company conducts an annual impairment review to ensure 
all trademarks are carried at appropriate values.
Principal Accounting Policies of the Company Financial Statements  
for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 73
Financial Statements
Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and any provision for impairment.
Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost less estimated residual value of all tangible fixed assets by annual 
instalments over their estimated useful economic lives. The rates generally applicable are: 
Leasehold property and improvements   Life of the lease 
Fixtures and fittings on a reducing balance basis  25% 
Computer software and hardware on a straight-line basis  10%–33% 
Software development costs on a straight-line basis  33%–50%
Costs that are directly attributable to the development of new business application software and which are incurred  
during the period prior to the date the software is placed into operational use are capitalised as software development 
costs. External costs and internal costs are capitalised to the extent they generate future economic benefit for the business, 
whilst internal costs are only capitalised if they are incremental to the Group. Once the new business application software 
is operational it is depreciated at the rates set out in the above table.
Research and Development
Research expenditure is charged to profits in the period in which it is incurred. Development costs incurred on specific 
projects are recognised to the extent that they comply with the requirements of SSAP 13, i.e. when recoverability can be 
assessed with reasonable certainty and amortised in line with the expected sales arising from the projects. All other 
development costs are written off in the year of expenditure.
Investments
 Investments are included at cost less amounts written off. The carrying value is considered annually by the Directors in 
comparison against the potential net realisable value.
Leased Assets – Operating Leases
Operating leases are charged to the profit and loss account on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Leased Assets – Financial Leases
Tangible fixed assets acquired under finance leases and hire purchase contracts are capitalised at the estimated fair value 
at the inception of the lease or contract. The total finance charges are allocated over the period of the lease or contract in 
such a way as to give a constant periodic charge on the outstanding liability .
Deferred Taxation
Deferred tax is recognised on all timing differences where the transactions or events that give the Company an obligation 
to pay more tax in the future, or a right to pay less tax in the future, have occurred by the balance sheet date. Deferred tax 
assets are recognised when it is more likely than not that they will be recovered. Deferred tax is measured using rates of 
tax that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date. The deferred tax provision is held at its 
current value and not discounted. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
74 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
1 Profit of Parent Company
The parent Company has taken advantage of Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and has not included its own  
profit and loss account in these financial statements. The parent Company’s loss for the year was £4,536,000 (2009:  
loss of £1,052,000).
2 Dividend
No dividend was paid or proposed during the year (2009: £nil).
3 Intangible Assets
 Panel 
 acquisition 
 costs Trademarks Total 
 £000 £000 £000
Cost
At 1 August 2009 217 86 303
Additions 38 20 58
At 31 July 2010 255 106 361
Accumulated amortisation
At 1 August 2009 62 – 62
Provided in the year 80 – 80
Reclassification 28 – 28
At 31 July 2010 170 – 170
Net book amount at 31 July 2010 85 106 191
Net book amount at 31 July 2009 155 86 241
The valuation method for intangibles is arm’s-length purchase price.
Notes to the Company Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010 Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 75
Financial Statements
4 Tangible Fixed Assets
 Software  Computer Leasehold 
 development Fixtures software and property and 
 costs and fittings hardware improvements Total 
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Cost
At 1 August 2009 520 296 1,228 177 2,221
Additions 43 25 159 – 227
Disposals (145) – (575) – (720)
At 31 July 2010 418 321 812 177 1,728
Accumulated depreciation
At 1 August 2009 186 153 396 87 822
Provided in the year 260 39 220 35 554
Reclassification (28) – – – (28)
At 31 July 2010 418 192 616 122 1,348
Net book amount at 31 July 2010 – 129 196 55 380
Net book amount at 31 July 2009 334 143 832 90 1,399
5 Fixed Asset Investments
Total fixed asset investments comprise:
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Interest in subsidiaries  33,166 37,203
Interest in joint ventures  43 43
Capital contributions arising from share-based payments 337 202
  33,546 37,448
The value of investments is determined on the basis of the cost to the Group.
The Company’s principal trading subsidiaries and joint ventures are listed in note 12 of the consolidated financial statements.
The Directors believe that the carrying value of the investments is supported by their underlying net assets.
In the year , an impairment of £3.9m was charged against the investments in YouGovPsychonomics AG. Further details are 
disclosed in note 9 of the consolidated financial statements. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
76 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Notes to the Company Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010
6 Debtors
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Trade debtors 2,916 3,757
Amounts owed by Group undertakings 6,524 3,605
Amounts owed by joint ventures 122 116
Other debtors 337 72
Prepayments and accrued income 1,599 867
Deferred taxation 1,572 1,354
  13,070 9,771
7 Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Trade creditors 343 176
Amounts owed to Group undertakings 6,657 6,349
Taxation and social security 532 414
Other creditors – 72
Accruals 3,168 1,182
Deferred income 404  323
  11,104 8,516
8 Provisions for Liabilities and Charges
   31 July 2010  31 July 2009 
  £000 £000
Deferred tax
At 1 August 252 36
(Released)/provided during year in profit and loss account (81) 216
At 31 July 171 252
The deferred tax charge in the current and prior years represents accelerated capital allowances on fixed assets acquired. Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 77
Financial Statements
9 Reconciliation of Movements in Shareholders’ Funds 
  Share  Deferred Profit 
 Share premium Merger consideration and loss 
 capital account reserve reserve account Total 
 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Balance at 31 July 2008 190 29,156 9,239 1,438 6,250 46,273
Changes in equity for 2009
Profit for the year – – – – (1,052) (1,052)
Total recognised income for the year – – – – (1,052) (1,052)
Expenses offset against share premium – (13) – – – (13)
Issue of share capital through  
exercise of share options 1 232 – – – 233
Deferred consideration as part 
consideration for acquisition 2 1,436 – (1,438) – –
Share-based payments – – – – 271 271
Balance at 31 July 2009 193 30,811 9,239 – 5,469 45,712
Changes in equity for 2010
Profit for the year – – – – (4,536) (4,536)
Total recognised income for the year – – – – (4,536) (4,536)
Issue of share capital through  
exercise of share options 1 11 – – – 12
Share-based payments – – – – 148 148
Balance at 31 July 2010 194 30,822 9,239 – 1,081 41,336
10 Called-Up Share Capital
The Company only has one class of share. Par value of each Ordinary Share is 0.2p. All issued shares are fully paid.
 Number £000
Year to 31 July 2010
At 1 August 2009 96,733,177 193
Issue of shares 94,237 1
At 31 July 2010 96,827,414 194
Year to 31 July 2009
At 1 August 2008 94,876,425 190
Issue of shares 1,856,752 3
At 31 July 2009 96,733,177 193
Further details on the issues of share capital are included in note 21 of the consolidated financial statements.
 Number £000
Authorised share capital
At 31 July 2010
Ordinary Shares @ 0.2p each 150,000,000 300
At 31 July 2009
Ordinary Shares @ 0.2p each 150,000,000 300
  Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
Additional Information
78 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Financial Statements
Notes to the Company Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2010
11 Share-Based Payments 
The Company’s share-based payments are included in note 21 of the consolidated financial statements. The charge 
included in the profit and loss account of the Company is £14,000 (2009: £69,000). The increase in investment in respect 
of subsidiaries is £134,000 (2009: £202,000).
12 Leasing Commitments
Operating lease payments amounting to £439,000 (2010: £294,000) are due within one year . Annual commitments under 
operating leases which expire in the following periods are as follows:
 31 July 2010 31 July 2009
  
 Land and  Land and  
 buildings Other buildings Other 
 £000 £000 £000 £000
In one year or less 289 5 – –
Between one and five years 289 – 289  5
In five years or more – – 289 –
  578 5 578 5
13 Major Non-Cash Transactions
The Company entered into a barter transaction with Centaur plc, a joint venture partner , to exchange the provision of 
BrandIndex content for advertising within its publications for £327,000 (2009: £327,000).
Other barter transactions deemed not material in aggregate totalled £28,000 (2009: £28,000). Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
  YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010 79
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of YouGov PLC will be held at 50 Featherstone Street, London 
EC1Y 8RT on 8 December 2010 at 12.30pm to consider and, if thought fit, pass the resolutions below. Resolution 7 will  
be proposed as a special resolution. All other resolutions will be proposed as ordinary resolutions.
Ordinary Resolutions
1    To receive the Company’s annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 July 2010, together with the Directors’ 
report and the auditors’ report on those accounts.
2   To approve the Directors’ remuneration report set out in the annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 
31 July 2010.
3   To reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors to hold office from the conclusion of this meeting until the 
conclusion of the next general meeting of the Company at which accounts are laid.
4   To authorise the Directors to fix the remuneration of the auditors.
5  To reappoint Roger Parry as a Director retiring by rotation in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association.
6   To reappoint Ben Elliot as a Director who, having been appointed a Director by the Directors since the last Annual 
General Meeting, would in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association vacate office at the conclusion  
of this meeting unless reappointed.
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolution which will be proposed as a special resolution.
Special Resolution
7  THAT:
7.1  the Directors shall, in substitution of all previous authorities, have the power under section 570 of the Companies  
Act 2006 (the “Companies Act”) to allot equity securities (as defined in section 560 of the Companies Act) for cash 
pursuant to the authority conferred by resolution 6 passed at the Annual General Meeting held on 7 December 2007, 
as if section 561(1) of the Companies Act did not apply to the allotment;
7.2 this power shall be limited to:
7.2.1  the allotment of equity securities in connection with an offer or issue of such securities to holders of Ordinary Shares 
on the register on a date fixed by the Directors, whether by way of rights issue, open offer or otherwise, in proportion 
(as nearly as practicable) to their respective holdings on that date or in accordance with the rights attached to them 
but subject to such exclusions and other arrangements as the Directors may consider appropriate in relation to 
fractional entitlements or any legal or practical problems under the laws of any territory, or the requirements of any 
regulatory body or stock exchange; and
7.2.2  the allotment (other than under paragraph 7.2.1 above) of equity securities having, in the case of relevant shares  
(as defined for the purposes of section 560 of the Companies Act), a nominal amount or , in the case of other equity 
securities, giving the right to subscribe for or convert into relevant shares having a nominal amount, not exceeding  
in aggregate £9,680;
7.3  this power shall cease to have effect on the earlier of the date on which the authority given by resolution 6 passed  
at the Annual General Meeting held on 7 December 2007 is revoked, and the conclusion of the next Annual General 
Meeting of the Company;
7.4  the Company may make an offer or agreement before this authority expires which would or might require equity 
securities to be allotted after it expires and the Directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of that offer or 
agreement notwithstanding that the authority has expired.
By order of the Board
Alan Newman  Registered Office:
Company Secretary 50 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8RT
11 October 2010 Registered in England and Wales No. 3607311
Additional Information Financial Statements
Notice of Annual General Meeting Overview Business Review Management 
and Governance
80 YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010
Additional Information Financial Statements
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Notes:
1  Shareholders are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of their rights to attend and to speak and vote on their behalf at the meeting. A shareholder 
may appoint more than one proxy in relation to the Annual General Meeting provided that each proxy is appointed to exercise the rights attached to a 
different share or shares held by that shareholder . A proxy need not be a shareholder of the Company . A proxy form which may be used to make such 
appointment and give proxy instructions accompanies this notice. If you do not have a proxy form and believe that you should have one, or if you require 
additional forms, please contact Neville Registrars, at Neville House, 18 Laurel Lane, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 3DA.
2  To be valid any proxy form or other instrument appointing a proxy must be received by post or (during normal business hours only) by hand at Neville 
Registrars, Neville House, 18 Laurel Lane, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 3DA no later than 12.30pm on 6 December 2009.
3  The return of a completed proxy form, other such instrument or any CREST Proxy Instruction (as described in paragraph 6 below) will not prevent a 
shareholder attending the Annual General Meeting and voting in person if he/she wishes to do so.
4  In accordance with Regulation 41 of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001, to be entitled to attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting  
(and for the purpose of the determination by the Company of the votes they may cast), shareholders must be registered in the Register of Members  
of the Company at 6.00pm on 6 December 2010 (or , in the event of any adjournment, 6.00pm on the date which is two days before the time of the 
adjourned meeting). Changes to the Register of Members after the relevant deadline shall be disregarded in determining the rights of any person  
to attend and vote at the meeting.
5  CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so by using the procedures 
described in the CREST Manual. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those CREST members who have appointed a 
service provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf.
6  In order for a proxy appointment or instruction made using the CREST service to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a “CREST Proxy Instruction”) 
must be properly authenticated in accordance with the specifications of Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited (the operator of the CREST system), and must 
contain the information required for such instruction, as described in the CREST Manual. The message, regardless of whether it constitutes the appointment 
of a proxy or is an amendment to the instruction given to a previously appointed proxy must, in order to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by  
the issuer’s agent (ID 7RA11) by 12.30pm on 6 December 2010. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the 
timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Application Host) from which the issuer’s agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST  
in the manner prescribed by CREST . After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the 
appointee through other means.
7  CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors, or voting service providers should note that Euroclear UK and Ireland Limited does not 
make available special procedures in CREST for any particular message. Normal system timings and limitations will, therefore, apply in relation to the input 
of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or , if the CREST member is a CREST personal member ,  
or sponsored member , or has appointed a voting service provider , to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action  
as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members 
and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting system providers are referred, in particular , to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning 
practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
8  The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities 
Regulations 2001.
9  In order to facilitate voting by corporate representatives at the meeting, arrangements will be put in place at the meeting so that: (i) if a corporate shareholder 
has appointed the chairman of the meeting as its corporate representative with instructions to vote on a poll in accordance with the directions of all of the 
other corporate representatives for that shareholder at the meeting, then on a poll those corporate representatives will give voting directions to the chairman 
and the chairman will vote (or withhold a vote) as corporate representative in accordance with those directions; and (ii) if more than one corporate 
representative for the same corporate shareholder attends the meeting but the corporate shareholder has not appointed the chairman of the meeting as  
its corporate representative, a designated corporate representative will be nominated, from those corporate representatives who attend, who will vote on  
a poll and the other corporate representatives will give voting directions to that designated corporate representative. Corporate shareholders are referred 
to the guidance issued by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators on proxies and corporate representatives (www.icsa.org.uk) for further 
details of this procedure. The guidance includes a sample form of representation letter if the chairman is being appointed as described in (i) above.
Explanatory Notes to the Notice of Annual General Meeting
The notes above give an explanation of the proposed resolutions. Resolutions 1 to 6 are proposed as ordinary resolutions. This means that for each of those 
resolutions to be passed, more than half of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution. Resolution 7 is proposed as a special resolution. This means  
that for each resolution to be passed, at least three-quarters of the votes cast must be in favour of the resolution.
Resolution 7 (statutory pre-emption rights)
Under section 561 of the Companies Act 2006, when new shares are allotted, they must first be offered to existing shareholders pro rata to their holdings.  
This special resolution renews the authorities previously granted to the Directors to: (a) allot shares of the Company in connection with a rights issue or other 
pre-emptive offer; and (b) otherwise allot shares of the Company , or sell treasury shares for cash, up to an aggregate nominal value of £9,680 (representing  
in accordance with institutional investor guidelines, approximately 5% of the share capital in issue as at 31 October 2009 (being the last practicable date prior 
to the publication of this notice)) as if the pre-emption rights of section 561 did not apply . The authority granted by this resolution will expire on the earlier of, 
the expiry or revocation of the Directors’ authority to allot shares given at the Annual General Meeting on 7 December 2007, and the conclusion of the next 
Annual General Meeting. Designed and produced by 85FOUR.
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YouGov Annual Report and Accounts 2010