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TWST: Can we begin with a brief introduction to Thomson Intermedia (London: THN.L) and how the company is positioned today?

Ms. Thomson: We are a five-year old company that came into an advertising monitoring market with pioneering products and different concepts, which means we look at both creative and expenditure, we link the data and we provide that via the Internet to our clients. We have thousands of users of our systems now and in the last two years since we floated we have been developing across all media. So now we are in the enviable position of being the only company in the UK who has every single piece of creative advertising across all media linked to the expenditure, so we can see exactly who spends what, where, who they have targeted and it’s all available via the Internet. To give an example, within half an hour of an ad airing on TV, it’s available on our system in digital quality, linked to exactly where it has been placed. We have been through vast development in the last two years. Our news product has also just finished a big development phase. It’s a daily evaluation tool to view real-time corporate perception of any company’s mentioned in the press, with detailed journalist ratings and all linked to shareprice. All our technology is portable and can open global opportunities for us.

TWST: Who is your main competition in this space?

Ms. Thomson: There are a couple of other companies in the UK who operate in the advertising monitoring market, but primarily only from an expenditure or a creative view point, at Thomsons we are currently the only provider to produce a consolidated and instantaneous view of the market.

TWST: What segments of the advertising industry are you targeting?

Ms. Thomson: I would say there are three key sectors that we sell to. One is the advertisers themselves and we have opened up that market because after all our systems are very tailored and provide timely information. So it becomes very relevant for marketing directors to be able to see what their competitors are up to. We also sell to creative agencies. And then the other set is advertising media agencies and also media owners who obviously have a real need from a sales point of view for this data.

TWST: What about going forward? Are there any key developments and drivers that you can talk to?

Ms. Thomson: As far as we are concerned, we have got a lot of really, innovative and exciting products all coming together. We are just putting the final piece in the jigsaw, which is radio expenditure. So once in it gives us the added opportunity of taking the expenditure market by storm. In the first six months of this year, we have achieved more than GBP1 million of new business and we are running 86% renewal rate across the board, and that, in a depressed market, proves the value of our products.

TWST: Over the next 12 or 24-month time period what sort of objectives would you be looking to achieve?

Ms. Thomson: We hope to have gained a considerable amount of UK market share. We will have expanded internationally and be working with some of the largest international players who will be utilizing the Thomson technology. We have without a doubt the best media monitoring technology in the world and it is very important for us to get a real stronghold here and then be able to reap the benefit of all that technology. And we will of course be profitable.