DEFINITIONS

The ‘Company’ is Launchpad Research Limited, trading under its own name or as Launchpad Research. ‘Project’ is any research project or other service or work conducted by the Company. The ‘Client’ is the person or organisation buying or seeking to buy the Project from the Company.

HEADINGS

Headings are for information only and do not form part of these Terms and Conditions.

SCOPE OF THESE TERMS

All work carried out by The Company is subject to these terms and conditions unless otherwise agreed in writing. These terms and conditions shall take precedence over any conflicting terms and conditions issued by The Client in a purchase order or elsewhere even if a condition similar to this condition appears in such terms and conditions. Commencement of a Project is upon acceptance of a quotation via esign, verbally or in writing from The Client.

These terms and conditions supersede any previous terms and conditions issued by the Company.

FORCE MAJEURE

The Company shall not be liable to The Client or be deemed to be in breach of the Contract because of any delay in performing or any failure to perform, any of The Company’s obligations in relation to the Project if the delay or failure was due to any cause beyond The Company’s reasonable control.  Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the following shall be regarded as caused beyond The Company’s reasonable control: i) Act of God, explosion, flood, tempest, fire or accident, delays in transport, extreme weather ii) War or threat of war, sabotage, insurrection, civil disturbances or requisition iii) Acts, restrictions, by-laws, prohibitions or measure of any kind on the part of any governmental, parliamentary or local authority  iv) Import or export regulations or embargoes v) Strikes, lock outs or other industrial actions or trade disputes (whether involving employees of The Company or of a third party) vi) Difficulties in obtaining labour, fuel, or specific equipment vii)  Power failure.

PROFESSIONAL CODES

The Client and The Company agree that all work shall be in accordance with the Codes of Conduct of the Market Research Society and ESOMAR.

VALIDITY OF QUOTATIONS

Quotations are valid for 30 days from the date of submission. However, The Company reserves the right to withdraw its offer to conduct the Project at any time before the Project is commissioned by the Client.

Quotations are intended as a nonbinding estimate based on the information provided; changes may occur when fuller information is known and/or if specifications are changed. All costs are subject to our standard terms.

SPECIFICATIONS

Fees quoted are for the research design and services as set out in the research specification, proposal or other document, or as otherwise agreed between The Company and The Client. Any changes made at the request of The Client or with the agreement of The Client may result in additional fees. The Company shall not be obliged to notify The Client in advance of such additional fees. Value Added Tax [VAT], where applicable, will be added to invoices.

INCREASE IN CHARGES

The Company may increase fees at any time if The Company experience any significant cost increase due to factors beyond its control commensurate in providing you with the Project relating to these terms. A non-exhaustive list which includes currency exchange rate fluctuations, fuel costs, changes in employment legislations, and any additional services excluded in the research specification, proposal or other document or as otherwise agreed between The Company and The Client.

EXCHANGE RATES

If the Project involves fieldwork, room hire, travel or other direct costs incurred in any currency other than Sterling, the price quoted is based on the exchange rate ruling on the day the proposal or costing is given. Unless the Project confirmation describes the cost as fixed and not subject to exchange rate fluctuation, any subsequent significant change in the exchange rate will result in an increase or decrease in the fee to take account of the effect of the change on costs incurred. If the project confirmation describes the cost as fixed and not subject to exchange rate fluctuation, The Company will order currency in advance, and The Client agrees to payment no later than the exact dates specified, notwithstanding any change in the anticipated completion date for the project.

INVOICING

Unless otherwise specified, new clients will be invoiced 100% on commission of their first project; any projects commissioned thereafter will be invoiced 60% of the fee on commission and the remaining 40% balance on delivery of the initial report or presentation of the results whichever is earlier. If no report or presentation is involved, final invoicing will be on completion of the Project.

PAYMENT TERMS

All invoices are due for settlement within 30 days of invoice unless otherwise specified and agreed in advance. Invoices unpaid on expiry of the agreed period will incur interest at 5% over bank base rate on a daily basis until payment is received. In the event of The Client delaying payment for more than 30 days beyond the due date, The Company reserves the right, after notifying The Client in writing of its intentions, to suspend or terminate work on the Project, in which case the Project shall be deemed to have been postponed or cancelled by the Client. Any goods or items supplied to The Client remain the property of The Company until fully paid for.

POSTPONEMENT OR CANCELLATION

In the event of the Project being postponed or cancelled by The Client after commissioning (whether or not commissioned in writing) a fee may be charged by The Company to The Client to cover the value  of  all work undertaken (based on time spent on the Project), costs incurred and financial commitments entered into, including work undertaken and costs incurred before the Project was commissioned.  Furthermore, it should be noted that where fieldwork has to be cancelled with less than 7 days’ notice we are obliged to pay fieldworkers in full. Where possible, affected interviewers will be assigned to alternative projects to minimise costs to our clients. However, where this is not possible all costs incurred must be met by The Client in full. The following charges will be incurred within the following periods:

• 4 or less days 100% of initial quoted cost

• 5-10 days 90% of initial quoted cost

• 11-15 days 50% of initial quoted cost

• Over 15 days  At the Company’s discretion

INDEMNITY AGAINST CLAIMS FROM THIRD PARTIES

The Client shall indemnify The Company against all loss, cost or liability which may arise in consequence of the use, consumption or demonstration of any goods or services supplied by The Client or provided at the Client’s request for the purposes of the Project.

NAMED PERSONNEL AND SUB-CONTRACTORS

Where it is stated in a proposal or elsewhere that named individuals or sub-contractors will be involved in a Project, such statements are made in good faith, but The Company reserves the right to substitute other individuals or sub-contractors when this is considered necessary or appropriate by The Company.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright of proposals and research specifications shall belong to The Company and no part of such documents shall be quoted or published, including the cost quotation itself. Copyright of the findings, whether in the form of reports, questionnaires, transcripts, presentation, tabulations or other form, shall pass to The Client on full payment of fees due to The Company. However, The Client agrees not to disclose such findings to third parties (other than to associated companies or professional advisers such as advertising agents) except with the express prior permission of The Company. The Company will be informed of the precise wording which the Client intends to use. The Company will only withhold permission for such wider disclosure of the results on the grounds that the proposed release of information is incorrect, misleading or damaging to The Company or to market research as a whole. In the event of such wider disclosure, The Company shall have the right to be acknowledged as the source of the findings in a manner to be agreed by The Company.

FORECASTS, PROJECTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

If the results of the Project include any predictions, forecasts or recommendations, whether of sales, market share, market size or other matters, such predictions, forecasts and recommendations are made in good faith and intended only as an aid to The Client’s judgement and The Company does not warrant their accuracy, nor shall it be responsible for any consequences of The Client’s use of these forecasts, predictions and recommendations.

ERRORS

In the event of any error in reports, tabulations or presentations, The Company will use its best endeavours to correct the error at its own expense but will not be liable for The Client’s consequential or other loss arising from the error.

CLIENT LIST

The Client agrees that their name may be quoted on any client list issued by The Company after the completion of the Project. The Company undertakes not to reveal to any third party any detailed information about any Project carried out for The Client.

STORAGE & RETENTION OF TEST PRODUCTS & PROJECT DOCUMENTATION

The Company undertakes to store free of charge relevant documentation that does not contain personal identifiable information (e.g.  data files) for a minimum period of six months from receipt of final project deliverables. (or such longer period as may be necessary for The Company to fulfil its legal obligations under law or any professional Code to which The Company subscribes). After this time The Company may destroy all such documents without informing The Client, unless specifically notified by The Client that further storage is required.   Any products used in product testing studies will only be stored by The Company for a period of three months from receipt of final project deliverables.  If collection or return is not arranged after this date then The Company reserves the right to destroy products without informing The Client. Any additional storage of products after three months will incur an additional fee.

PARTICIPANTS PRIVACY RIGHTS & SPECIAL NOTE ON AUDIO & VIDEO RECORDINGS OF GROUPS AND ESOMAR GUIDELINES

The Client will take all reasonable steps in accordance with GPDR (UK) to ensure research participants personal data collected by the Company in relation to the Project is protected. The Company will only process personal data for the duration of the Project and store it for a maximum of three months from The Client receiving final project deliverables.  Personal Information will only be shared with The Client if an Informed Consent Agreement has been signed by participants at the start of the Project; consent cannot be obtained retrospectively.  In these circumstances The Client agrees to only use the Research Data [e.g. text, video, images or audio] for market research, trade presentations, internal product innovation and internal training. It will not identify by name or visually recognisable image, any research participants in any publication or media regarding the research, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed at the start of the Project.  The Client agrees to only retain the Personal Information data to fulfil the initial purpose it was collected and will subsequently destroy all Personal Information within an acceptable time period using confidential methods.

If quotations include audio, video recordings and/or edits of interviews, please note that the release of such recordings is subject to the agreement of the participant.  In instances where this involves group discussions, unanimous agreement of all group participants is required, which they are entitled to withdraw at any time.  Therefore, Launchpad Research cannot guarantee that recordings will, in fact, be available from all, or indeed any, of the research undertaken.

CLIENT-SUPPLIED MATERIALS

Where The Client supplies or requests any materials for use in the Project, The Client undertakes to supply all necessary information to ensure that such materials are not hazardous to employees of The Company or other people. The Company undertakes to store free of charge client-supplied materials in accordance with the project specification. Any cost of further storage caused as a result of circumstances beyond the control of The Company, such as but not excluding project postponement, will be chargeable to The Client.

PERFORMANCE

The Company shall make every effort to complete the Project according to the timescale specified, but any quoted dates or timescales are estimates only and time shall not be of the essence of the contract between The Client and The Company. Completion of the project by a specific date shall not be a condition of the contract, and The Client shall not be entitled to withhold any or all of the fees for the Project because of any failure of The Company to complete the Project by any date. The Company shall not be liable for any loss or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from any delay in completing the Project. The only circumstance in which time will be deemed to be of the essence of the contract is if prior written agreement specifies a guaranteed delivery date with a full description of the consequences which will result from any failure to meet this guaranteed delivery date. Sample sizes are not guaranteed.  Every effort will be made by The Company to achieve the agreed sample sizes and quotas, but quoted samples and quotas cannot be guaranteed. No reduction in fees for a smaller sample nor increase in fees for a larger sample shall be imposed.

LAW

The Contract shall be governed exclusively by English law.

VALIDITY OF THESE TERMS

These Terms & Conditions 1.9 are valid from 8th March 2021 until superseded.