4Cast bags strategy award

Rowland Park, 4Cast's London-based director, said that four years ago 4Cast did not even place in the top five; the last two years, however, saw it flirting with top spot, and winning first prize this year is indicative of the firm's gradual rise since it launched a decade ago.

He said: "When we launched 10 years ago and got our first client - Pru Bache - we were covering only majors and had a London office of 10 people. Now we have 60 people in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney."

"Even when you are putting out good research, sometimes you need to get to a certain size before you win awards. The past few years have shown that."

Park said one reason for 4Cast's ascent is that it has a different approach to research than some of its competitors. "We use graphics and illustrations with our research instead of just offering a comment. All our technology has been built in-house, which is also beneficial, and allows us to come up with new developments, such as our recently launched Interactive Calendar."