What Pexel Research Services does

Pexel Research Services (legal name Pexel Ltd) is a Glasgow-headquartered specialist telephone fieldwork agency founded in 2001 and serving the international market research industry. The company runs one of Europe's largest multilingual CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) operations, with 160 workstations in its Glasgow headquarters and shared access to 300 workstations in the United States, operating 24/7 and covering 45+ languages via native-speaker interviewers. Approximately 70% of work is in the B2B sphere, targeting difficult-to-reach professional respondents such as hedge fund managers, engineers, surgeons, farmers, and KOLs, with the remaining roughly 30% in B2C consumer research, polling, and healthcare studies.

The core technology stack comprises CATI platforms Nebu, Confirmit, Askia, and Voxco, integrated with a Mitel 3300 MXE Telephone System and Retell Call Analyser Pro for live monitoring and quality evaluation. All telephone interviews are audio recorded for quality assurance. The company is ISO 20252 certified, compliant with MRS and ESOMAR Codes, GDPR, and PECR, and holds service-mark positioning across 22 industry sectors. Product offerings include Telephone Research (CATI quantitative and TDI qualitative), Business Research, Consumer Research, Online Research (panel-based and recruitment), Multi-mode Research, Online Reporting Dashboards (real-time fieldwork monitoring with PowerPoint-exportable reports), and supplementary services such as translation, face-to-face interviewing, cognitive debriefing, questionnaire programming, and data input. The Technical Director is overseeing development of CATI software in partnership with a Scottish University using innovative mining and visualisation algorithms.

The company operates a project-based professional services model with bespoke pricing based on sample size, interview length, number of markets, and languages required. Revenue is generated through direct engagement with research agencies (as a trade supplier) and direct commissioning clients, initiated through the Operations Director or Research Director. The company is privately held, founder-led by co-founders Bruce Leslie (Technical Director) and Pavel Marek (Operations Director), with no external investment, parent company, or M&A activity disclosed. Marquee clients include Microsoft, Google, HSBC, Visa, KPMG, Dell, Cisco, IATA, Burger King, NHS, WWF, Kyocera, Caterpillar, and Epson.

Name

Pexel Research Services

Legal name

Pexel Ltd

Website

https://pexel.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Pexel Research Services is a Glasgow-based specialist telephone fieldwork agency running one of Europe's largest multilingual CATI centres, serving the international market research industry with 160 EU and 300 US workstations covering 45+ languages across B2B and B2C studies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

akta.pro primary industry

Fieldwork & Data Collection (Online Panels, CATI/CAPI, Fieldwork) (MPAAALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ), Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Telephone market research
• CATI data collection
• Multilingual research services
• B2B market research
• Fieldwork agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Glasgow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Telephone Research Services: Project-based professional services revenue from conducting telephone interviews (CATI quantitative and TDI qualitative) for market research clients. Pricing based on sample size, interview length, number of markets, and languages required.
2. Multi-mode and Online Research: Additional revenue from hybrid methodologies combining telephone with online panels, recruitment to web, and online community participation for research projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Pexel Research Services is a specialist telephone fieldwork agency that conducts CATI quantitative surveys and TDI qualitative interviews, alongside online and multi-mode research, for market research agencies and direct commissioning clients. It operates one of Europe's largest multilingual CATI centres from Glasgow, with 160 European workstations and shared access to 300 US workstations, covering 45+ languages using native-speaker interviewers. Approximately 70% of work is B2B, serving clients such as IATA, HSBC, Microsoft, Google, NHS, and WWF.

Product overview

Pexel Research Services is a specialist telephone fieldwork agency offering a unified research services platform centered on telephone-based data collection. The core offering comprises Telephone Research (quantitative CATI and qualitative TDI surveys), supplemented by Online Research and Multi-mode solutions that blend methodologies. Key sub-products include Business Research (B2B) and Consumer Research, with add-on capabilities such as Online Reporting Dashboards for real-time fieldwork monitoring and Other Services (translation, face-to-face interviewing, cognitive debriefing, questionnaire programming). All services leverage the company's multilingual CATI infrastructure across Europe and the US.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Telephone Research Core telephone-based research service providing quantitative (CATI) and qualitative (TDI) surveys, WATI interviews, and recruitment services across multiple languages, conducted from the Glasgow CATI centre.
• Business Research B2B research service targeting difficult-to-reach professional respondents such as medical KOLs, engineers, hedge fund managers, farmers, and surgeons, with complex questionnaire requirements handled by sector-experienced interviewers.
• Consumer Research Consumer-facing research covering existing, lapsed, and prospective customers, including large-scale healthcare studies, opinion polls, and customer satisfaction surveys at national and constituency level.
• Online Research Online research delivered through local and international panels, direct recruitment from databases, and panel top-up using telephone recruitment for excluded audiences.
• Multi-mode Research Hybrid methodologies combining telephone and online approaches within the same study, targeting segmented audiences through the most efficient channel and supporting visual stimulus presentation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000+ projects completed for clients worldwide

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Critical Research: UK-based market research fieldwork agency offering CATI and online research services. Comparable to Pexel as a smaller, similarly UK-based specialist fieldwork provider competing for similar agency and direct clients.
• Respondent: Tech-forward market research platform focusing on B2B and professional respondent recruitment. Represents the digital-native challenger model that pressure-tests traditional CATI-based fieldwork providers like Pexel.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and analytics firm with extensive in-house fieldwork operations. Pexel acts as a trade supplier to Ipsos and similar agencies in many projects, making it a partner/competitor in the global MR supply chain.
• Kantar: World-leading market research and consumer insights group with its own global panel and fieldwork operations. Pexel serves as a specialist trade supplier to firms like Kantar for multilingual and B2B projects.

Direct peers

• Dynata: One of the largest first-party data and research operations companies, operating a global online panel and offering programmatic research. Direct comp to Pexel in delivering scaled B2B and B2C sample for the research industry.
• Norstat: European-headquartered data collection company operating CATI and online panels across the Nordics and broader Europe. Direct competitor to Pexel in multi-country European fieldwork, particularly in CATI-heavy projects.
• Bilendi: European digital market research and data collection provider, operating proprietary panels and fieldwork services across multiple countries. Comparable to Pexel in multi-country multilingual data collection for research agencies.
• Savanta: UK-headquartered market research agency offering full-service and fieldwork capabilities including B2B and consumer research. Most direct UK-based comp to Pexel in size and end-market focus.
• Schlesinger Group: One of the world's largest data collection fieldwork companies, operating CATI, online, and in-person research facilities globally. Like Pexel, it serves market research agencies and direct clients with multilingual, multi-country data collection.
• Toluna: Global research data and insights company combining online panels with quantitative and qualitative fieldwork. Pexel and Toluna overlap directly in panel-based, multi-mode, and multi-country research delivery to enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PEXELResearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pexel

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Pexel Research Services