Consumer Data Research Centre

What Consumer Data Research Centre does

Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) is an academic research institution hosted by the University of Leeds with consortium partners at University College London, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Oxford. Founded in 2014 with UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding, CDRC aggregates consumer data from over 30 data owners and operates a tiered access model (Open, Safeguarded, Secure) for trusted academic researchers. Its research spans health and wellbeing, crime and emergency services, population and infrastructure, retail, urban mobility, and ethical consumption.

CDRC's technology stack combines cloud-based secure data infrastructure with geospatial analysis, microsimulation (notably the SPENSER synthetic population model), agent-based modelling with Dynamic Data Assimilation, natural language processing (including Latent Dirichlet Allocation for police narratives and Twitter hate speech classification), and optimisation. It has produced named tools such as the Priority Places for Food Index (jointly with Which?), the Nutrient Profile Model Calculator, the Propensity to Cycle Tool, and the Cycling Infrastructure Prioritisation Toolkit. AI/ML capability is embedded across NLP, predictive analytics, and recommendation systems, with a non-compliant food outlet detector achieving 85% accuracy for local authority inspection prioritisation.

The centre is funded primarily by ESRC block grants and collaborative project contributions from industry and public-sector partners. Commercial income streams include the Data Scientist Development Programme (priced at £19.5k per 6-month proof-of-concept project), training courses, and bespoke industry partnerships. Customer segments span UK retailers (Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Lidl, M&S), public bodies (Leeds City Council, Lancashire Constabulary, Safer Leeds), healthcare (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, NHS Digital), and NGOs (Which?, Good Food Oxfordshire). In 2024, CDRC began transitioning its data services into two new Smart Data Research UK entities — Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service (HASP) led by Leeds and Geographic Data Service (GeoDS) led by UCL — backed by a £22M SDR UK investment.

Name

Consumer Data Research Centre

Legal name

Consumer Data Research Centre

Website

https://cdrc.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) is an academic research centre hosted by the University of Leeds, working with UCL, Liverpool and Oxford to provide consumer data access, AI-driven analytics, and policy tools to retailers, public sector bodies, and academic researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leeds

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. ESRC Research Council Funding: Core funding from UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to operate as an academic research centre and build data infrastructure
2. Collaborative Research Projects: Industry and public sector partners fund specific research projects, proof-of-concept studies, and longer-term research programmes through partnership agreements
3. Data Scientist Development Programme: External partners provide £19.5k project costs to cover data scientist salary, training, travel and subsistence for 6-month proof-of-concept projects

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CDRC operates an academic consumer data research centre that curates and provides secure access to over 30 consumer data sources from UK data owners, develops proprietary analytical tools and indices (PPFI, NPM Calculator, SPENSER), and delivers collaborative research projects, training programmes, and a Data Scientist Development Programme for academic, public sector, and industry partners.

Product overview

The Consumer Data Research Centre is an academic research center (not a product company) that provides consumer data services, research tools, and education. Its core offerings include the Priority Places for Food Index and Nutrient Profile Model Calculator as research/policy tools, data repository services (Data Store, Geographic Data Service, Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service), educational programs (MSc Consumer Analytics, training courses), and the Data Scientist Development Programme. These offerings serve academic researchers, public sector organizations, and industry partners to study societal and economic challenges using consumer data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Priority Places for Food Index: An index developed in collaboration with Which? to identify places in the UK where people are most likely to need support in accessing affordable food.
• Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) Calculator
• Planet Plates

Products and services

• Priority Places for Food Index Interactive mapping tool developed with Which? that identifies UK neighbourhoods most in need of food insecurity support, combining seven dimensions of deprivation and barriers to food access at LSOA level. Used by local authorities, charities, and Which? for food policy and inspection prioritisation.
• Nutrient Profile Model Calculator Free mobile-friendly tool helping users, SMEs, convenience stores, and enforcement officers identify whether products fall within HFSS (High Fat, Salt, Sugar) restriction scope under UK legislation.
• Planet Plates Interactive educational game engaging users with healthy and sustainable eating topics.
• Data Store Repository of consumer data from 30+ data owners, offering Open, Safeguarded, and Secure access tiers for trusted researchers, academics, and partner organisations under formal data sharing agreements.
• Geographic Data Service SDR UK-funded service led by UCL integrating wide-ranging data sources for insights into equitable and sustainable growth, focusing on geographic disparities and vulnerable populations.
• Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service SDR UK-funded service led by University of Leeds helping researchers assess health and sustainability challenges and discover patterns in local economies, health, lifestyles, and transportation.
• MSc Consumer Analytics and Marketing Strategy Innovative Masters degree providing practical skills in consumer data analysis for marketing strategy, producing 150+ graduates annually through the University of Leeds.
• Annual Training Programme Data analytics training programmes for academic and non-academic researchers covering consumer data skills, with scheduled courses and bespoke training options available.
• Data Scientist Development Programme Capacity-building programme pairing early-career data scientists with academic supervisors and external partners for 6-month proof-of-concept research projects at £19.5k per project, delivered through Leeds Institute for Data Analytics.

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% accuracy identifying non-compliant food outlets for local authority inspection prioritisation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Which?coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Joint development of Priority Places for Food Index - a free tool identifying UK neighbourhoods most vulnerable to food insecurity, used in Which?'s Affordable Food For All campaign
• IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Long-term collaboration conducting real-life behaviour change trials with retailers (Asda, Sainsbury's, M&S, Lidl) testing interventions to improve healthy and sustainable diets
• AsdacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple research collaborations including food waste reduction initiatives, green labelled products analysis, and behaviour change trials
• Sainsbury'scoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for loyalty card data research exploring food purchasing behaviours; Sainsbury's provided transaction data and business expertise
• MorrisonsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerData Scientist Development Programme project on supermarket delivery vehicle routing optimisation
• Lidl GBminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBehaviour change trial testing in-store signposting to nudge consumers towards healthier food choices
• Marks & Spencer (M&S)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBehaviour change trials as part of IGD collaboration for healthy and sustainable diets research
• Lancashire ConstabularycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAward-winning collaborations on hate crime analysis including police-recorded data analysis and NLP for online hate speech detection on Twitter
• Leeds City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPopulation estimates improvement project; 2021 Census analysis for city planning; housing retrofit strategy support for net zero 2050 target
• Safer LeedsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCrime narrative text mining project using NLP to identify crime types and modus operandi from police report narratives
• Good Food OxfordshirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership examining spatial relationship between food insecurity risk and health outcomes in Oxfordshire
• Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLifeInfo survey partnership to explore linking loyalty card and health data for public health research
• IBMminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance combining economic, business, travel and retail data for COVID-19 global recovery insights
• Google CloudminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance for COVID-19 recovery data services
• Rolls-RoyceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance for COVID-19 recovery data services
• TruataminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance for COVID-19 recovery data services
• The Data CityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance for COVID-19 recovery data services
• ODI LeedsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of Emergent Alliance data alliance for COVID-19 recovery data services
• Alan Turing InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on crime data analysis, urban analytics, and geocomputation with Turing Fellows and researchers
• SIPHER Consortium (UKPRP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor UK Prevention Research Partnership investment uniting 6 universities, government partners, and practice organisations to tackle health inequalities through policy evidence
• UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMISTRAL programme providing population projections for national infrastructure systems modelling to inform investment decisions

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CDRC_UK
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCqfhySMocjbUiPtyAckZgcA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/consumer-data-research-centre-university-of-leeds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Consumer Data Research Centre