YouGov : FY20 Annual Report and Accounts

YouGov : FY20 Annual Report and Accounts

YouGov plc

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November 23, 2020 at 01:13 pm EST

platform for growth

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Strategic report

About YouGov	0
Summary of Financial Results	1
At a Glance	2
Understanding the YouGov Platform	4
Our Client Value Proposition	6
Chair's Statement	8
Chief Executive Officer's Review	10
Markets	14
Our Strategic Pillars	16
Strategy in Action	18
Our Strategic Priorities	24
Key Performance Indicators	26
Business Model	28
Operational Review	30
Section 172 Statement	38
Our Stakeholders	40
Environmental, Social and Governance	44
Chief Financial Officer's Review	54
Principal Risks and Uncertainties	60

Governance report

Chair's Introduction and Corporate
Governance Statement	64
Board of Directors	66
Corporate Governance Report	68
Nomination Committee Report	73
Audit & Risk Committee Report	74
Directors' Remuneration Report	77
Directors' Report	92
Directors' Responsibilities Statement	95
Financial statements
Independent Auditors' Report to the
Members of YouGov plc	96
Consolidated Income Statement	102
Consolidated Statement of
Comprehensive Income	103
Consolidated Statement of
Financial Position	104
Consolidated Statement of
Changes in Equity	105
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 106
Principal Accounting Policies of the
Consolidated Financial Statements	107
Notes to the Consolidated Financial
Statements	121
Group Five-Year Financial Summary	146
Parent Company Statement of
Financial Position	147
Parent Company Statement of
Changes in Equity	148
Parent Company Statement
of Cash Flows	149
Notes to the Parent Company
Financial Statements	150
Additional information
Notice of Annual General Meeting	166
Other Information	172

About YouGov

YouGov is an international research data and analytics group.

Our data-led offering supports and improves a

wide spectrum of marketing activities of a customer- base including media owners, brands and media agencies. We work with some of the world's most recognised brands.

Our ground-breaking syndicated data solutions include the daily brand perception tracker, YouGov BrandIndex, and the media planning and segmentation tool, YouGov Profiles. Our market-leading YouGov Realtime service provides a fast and cost-effective solution for reaching nationally representative and specialist samples. YouGov's Custom Research division offers a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research, tailored by sector specialist teams to meet clients' specific requirements.

As the pioneer of online market research, we have a strong record for data accuracy and innovation.

A study by the Pew Research Center concluded that YouGov "consistently outperforms competitors on accuracy" as a vendor of choice. We are the market research pioneer of Multi-level Regression with Post-stratification ("MRP") for accurate predictions at a granular level.

YouGov data is regularly referenced by the press worldwide and we are the most quoted market research source in the UK.

With a proprietary panel of over 11 million registered members globally and operations in the UK, Americas, Mainland Europe, Middle East, India and Asia Pacific, YouGov has one of the world's largest research networks.

For information on our products and services, see yougov.com

For corporate and investor relations information, see corporate.yougov.com

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Summary of Financial Results

Revenue £m	Adjusted operating profit margin1 %
£152.4+12%	14.3%+80bps
2019: £136.53	2019: £13.5%3
Adjusted profit before tax1 £m	Adjusted operating profit1 £m
£25.7+25%	£21.8+18%
2019: £20.63	2019: £18.53
Statutory profit before tax £m	Statutory operating profit £m
£15.2 -22%	£15.2 -24%
2019: £19.43	2019: £20.03
Adjusted earnings per share1 pence	Statutory basic earnings per share pence
18.1p+21%	9.0p-36% pts
2019: 15.0p3	2019: 14.1p3
Revenue per head	Staff costs as a % of revenue
£142k	50%+2% pts
2019: £142k3	2019: 48%3

Operating cash generation £m

£38.7+1% pt

2019: £38.43

1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.

Defined as growth in business excluding impact of current and prior period acquisitions and business closures, and movement in exchange rates.

3 Prior year comparatives have been restated on the adoption of IFRS 16.

Financial and operational highlights

Revenue growth of 12%
(2019: 17%). Underlying business2 growth of 13%
Adjusted operating profit1 up by 18% to £21.8m (2019: £18.5m).
Underlying business2 growth of 14%
Adjusted profit before tax1 up by 25% to £25.7m (2019: £20.6m)
Adjusted earnings per share1 up by 21% to 18.1p (2019: 15.0p)
Adjusted operating profit margin1 rises to 14.3% (2019: 13.5%)
Statutory operating profit down 24% to £15.2m (2019: £20.0m) due to separately reported items charge of £6.6m
Strong operating cash generation of £38.7m enabling us to continue investing in the business
Net cash balances of £35.3m (31 July 2019: £37.9m)
Proposed dividend increase of
25% to 5p per share (2019: 4p)
Strong performance in the key markets of the UK and US
Significant and increased investment of £7.9m (2019: £4.8m) in building the technology platform for future growth
Number of registered panellists up 37% to over 11 million through broadening geographic footprint
No employees have been furloughed during the pandemic with no other Government support needed
The Group's strategic and financial position remains strong and resilient and has not seen a material impact of COVID-19 on its financial performance to date
Continued progress in the development and roll-out of YouGov Direct, a blockchain- based audience insights platform, with positive initial feedback from clients

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

At a Glance

YouGov is an international research and data analytics group

Our mission

Our mission is to supply a continuous stream of accurate data and insight into what the world thinks, so that companies, governments and institutions can better serve the people and communities that sustain them.

Our vision

Our vision is for YouGov to be the world's leading provider of marketing and

opinion data. We want YouGov data to be a valued public resource used by hundreds

of millions of people on a daily basis, enabling intelligent decision-making and

informed conversations.

Our values

We are driven by a set of shared values. We are fast, fearless and innovative. We work diligently to get it right. We are guided by accuracy, ethics and proven methodologies.

We trust each other and bring these values into everything that we do.

Be fast

Be fearless

Get it right

Trust each other

Things are constantly	We are brave and believe	We are judged on our	We have a mission,
changing and as a	we can do anything.	ethics, our methodology,	a strategy, and a plan
company we know we are	We've proven we can.	and our accuracy - we	for implementation.
in constant competition.	We innovate, take savvy	will do the right thing as	We work together in trust
We must always be fast to	risks, don't follow the	scientists, as technologists,	- challenging, pushing,
adapt, and fast to deliver.	crowd. Be yourself.	and as citizens.	improving each other to
			fulfil our ambition.

Underpinned by our commitment to ESG

Public data	People and	Governance	Risk	Environment
See page 46	culture	framework	management	See page 53
	See page 49	See page 51	See page 60

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Our reach

YouGov has one of the world's largest research networks

Key	YouGov proprietary panel
	YouGov Partnerships Programme panels
					Asia Pacific
		Offices worldwide	Mainland Europe	9%
		37	23%	employees
		8
		employees
		12

Employees worldwide			offices

+1,100
	offices			Annual

				AccountsYouGov& Report
		Clients worldwide
		+3,300
					Panellists worldwide	2020

					+11m
	Americas	UK		MENA & India
	21%	33%	14%
	employees	employees		employees
	8	3		6
	offices	offices		offices
		YouGov Global Partnerships Programme
	The YouGov Global Partnerships Programme offers affiliate partner research agencies access to YouGov's
	platforms, expertise and (where required) panel, while establishing the YouGov brand and data products
	in the local market. YouGov has partnerships in place with agencies in Egypt, Greece, Japan, Pakistan,
		Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, UAE and Vietnam.
						3

Understanding the YouGov Platform

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Why clients buy from us

What clients buy from us

How we grow our business

Our client value proposition

Best panel

Our proprietary global panel of over 11 million registered members across more than 40 markets provide us with thousands of data points on consumer attitudes, opinions and behaviour

on a daily basis.

Our divisions

Data Products

This division comprises our syndicated data products, which are available to clients on a subscription basis. It includes our YouGov Plan & Track solution to help marketers plan and execute their campaign strategy and track its success.

Our strategic pillars

Data

Integration

Read case study

see page 18

Our strategic priorities

Product

developmentPanel and technology

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Best data

The YouGov Cube is a unique single-sourceconnected-data library that holds over ten years of longitudinal data. We leverage this data using our research expertise, including our application of Multilevel Regression with Post-stratification ("MRP") methodology, to make accurate predictions at a granular level.

Best tools

We maximise the value of our connected data through the application of leading-edge analytics technology and strong research expertise. YouGov Crunch is the most advanced analytics tool for research data, combining super-fast processing with drag-and-drop simplicity.

Client value proposition see page 6

Data Services	Custom Research
This division comprises our YouGov RealTime	This division offers a wide range of quantitative
(YouGov Omnibus outside the UK and US) service	and qualitative research, including substantial
which provides clients a fast-turnaround and	global trackers, that is tailored by sector specialist
cost-effective solution for reaching nationally	teams to meet clients' specific requirements.
representative and specialist samples.

Public	Ethical
Data	Activation

Operational review

see page 30

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Read case study	Read case study
see page 20	see page 22


Global	Global	Acquisitions
infrastructure	accounts		Our strategic

				pillars see page 16

Our Client Value Proposition

Why clients buy from us

Our 11 million registered panellists form the foundation of our business and ensuring they have a rewarding panel experience is the key to our success. They supply us with a continuous stream of attitudinal, opinion and behavioural data via various platforms, which we connect using our powerful analytics technology and sophisticated research methodologies to deliver a best-in- class dataset to our clients. This ensures

that our clients receive accurate and actionable data and insights that can be used across the marketing workflow, from planning to developing and evaluating their marketing and communication activities. The quality of our data means we are seen as a trusted resource and regularly referenced by media outlets worldwide.

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Continual

investment in our business and high visibility in mainstream media

Our panellists

We aim to build and retain panels that are nationally representative to ensure the accuracy of our data. We acquire panellists in many different ways including via social media ads, via stories in the press and through a panellist referral scheme. Panellists get paid for time spent completing surveys using YouGov points, which can be redeemed for cash once they reach a predetermined level. Since we are highly quoted in mainstream media, our panellists enjoy a sense that their opinions are valued, that they are shaping agendas and part of the public debate.

Our client value proposition

Best Panel		Best Data		Best Tools

Creating One Platform augmented by new product additions

Combined with YouGov Chat, YouGov Direct and YouGov Signal, we become a universal

platform that activates both YouGov and client data

Our clients

Our clients are key players in the advertising and marketing ecosystem - including brand owners, media and advertising agencies, public relations firms and media owners. They use our data products, tools and research services to manage their entire marketing workflow, from strategy and planning, brand tracking and media planning to campaign effectiveness and audience profiling. The interoperability and connectedness of our products and services serves as a strong differentiator and we continue to work towards bringing

the entire YouGov offering onto a universal platform, while enriching its capability and

increasing the use cases of our offerings.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Survey responses are captured in our unique connected- data library

and analysed using

best-in-class analytics tools

Our investment case

	Successful track record of
1	scaling the business and delivering
profitable growth
	Unparalleled depth and breadth of
2	connected data increasingly being
valued by clients
	Resilient, largely digital, business
3	model resulting in significant
operating leverage
	Culture of innovation ensures our
4	offering is constantly evolving to
meet client needs
	Increasing focus on account
5	management and global expansion
to drive next phase of growth
	Growing syndicated data products
6	business providing strong margin
expansion potential
	Developing from a supplier of data
7	products and services into a true
platform that includes activation
	Strong financial performance and
8	solid balance sheet provides platform
to deliver on growth ambitions
	Highly motivated leadership team
9	with a clear goal of enhancing
shareholder value

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Chair's Statement

An encouraging start to the next phase of YouGov's growth

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Roger Parry CBE

Chair

YouGov is an international data and analytics group. We provide our clients with the data and insights to help them plan, develop and evaluate the impact of their marketing and communication activities. We now employ over 1,100 people worldwide, operating from 37 offices across 24 countries and serving clients in more than 40 national markets. We operate a proprietary, high quality global panel of over

11 million registered members who share their data with us in ways that are fully compliant with data protection, privacy and security laws.

The scale and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting a huge social and economic challenge. Against this backdrop in the second half of our financial year, I am pleased to report to shareholders that YouGov was able to meet the Board's expectations and deliver strong financial performance in the year to 31 July 2020. We took rapid and agile action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees. We have done extensive research on behalf of governments to understand people's reaction to COVID-19 and we have made much of this information available free of charge as a public service.

Results and dividend

Group revenues were up 12% in reported terms to £152.4m (13% up on underlying1 business) while adjusted operating profit2 increased by 18% on the prior

financial year to £21.8m. These results reflect an encouraging start to the next phase of YouGov's growth. YouGov has a progressive dividend policy and in line with this the Board is pleased to recommend a dividend increase of 25% to 5.0p a share payable on 14 December 2020 to shareholders on the register as at 4 December 2020.

Outlook

The social and economic problems caused by the pandemic are far from over but, in terms of our financial performance, YouGov has started the new financial year well and trading is in line with the Board's expectations. With a very strong balance sheet and evidence of growing demand for our products, we remain confident of meeting our long-term targets.

Strategic direction

The YouGov client base now spans a wide range of commercial and governmental clients in most of the world's major markets. We provide our clients with insights to enable them to carry out their work more effectively. We do this by delivering research and proprietary software tools which interpret and display the data gathered from our proprietary global panel of over 11 million registered members. Increasingly, our clients engage with us on a subscription basis which allows them to enjoy a highly flexible and tailored real-time service.

Annual dividend per share

1.4p 2.0p 3.0p	4.0p	5.0p
2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20

Our strategy is to seek long-term contractual relationships and to become a crucial part of our clients' business processes to enable them to plan their use of resources and to monitor the results of their activity.

Long-term growth plans and incentives The financial year to 31 July 2020 was the first full year of our current long- term strategic growth plan ("FYP2").

The financial results for the year to

31 July 2019 set the base line for the Board approved targets for the FYP2 period (which runs from 1 August

2019 to 31 July 2023) to double Group revenue, double adjusted operating profit margin2, and achieve compound annual adjusted earnings per share2 ("EPS") growth in excess of 30%.

These stretching FYP2 targets underpin the current long-term incentive plan ("LTIP 2019"), which was approved

by the Board in 2019 following a thorough design process supported by remuneration experts at Aon and in consultation with the Company's major shareholders. The Board believes the LTIP 2019 design produces close alignment between shareholder and management interests, with full vesting of the LTIP 2019 requiring compound annual adjusted EPS2 growth of 35% by 2023. The Company's previous long-term growth plan, FYP1, delivered

compound annual adjusted EPS2 growth in excess of 25% over 2014-19, resulting in the full pay-out of the LTIP 2014 awards in November 2019.

Clearly the COVID-19 crisis creates considerable uncertainty but based on the experience of trading in the second half of the last financial year (1 February to 31 July 2020) the Board believes the YouGov business model is well placed to provide value to our clients and therefore that the targets of FYP2 remain reasonable and achievable.

Board composition

The Board consists of three Executive Directors and four Independent Non- Executives. All appointments have been made following external advice. The Directors have a wide range of commercial expertise, and we believe the Board has the right balance of skills and experience to provide robust oversight and develop a well-informed strategy. While there are no immediate plans to make changes to the Board composition, we have a detailed succession planning process in place.

20 years of growth

YouGov celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2020. It is two decades since Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi founded the Company as a pioneer of the then ground-breaking use of the

internet to do market research. Since that time, many other players have come

to use the internet for data collection, but we believe we have maintained our pioneering lead in terms of data analytics methodology and technology, and the duration of a proprietary global panel which is fully compliant with data privacy and security legislation.

YouGov has thrived by having the right products and through constant innovation. But the strategy only works because it is executed well by YouGov's management and wider workforce. This past year has been immensely challenging for our employees and on behalf of the Board I would like to thank the YouGov team for their flexibility, commitment and hard work.

Roger Parry CBE

Chair

15 October 2020

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Defined as growth in business excluding impact of current and prior period acquisitions and business closures, and movement in exchange rates.

2 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.	9

Stephan Shakespeare

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer's Review

Strong growth in line with our strategic growth plan

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

We continue to grow strongly with 12% revenue growth and 18% increase in adjusted operating profit1. This has been achieved despite undergoing an operational shift to a new client management model, as anticipated in our strategic plan, and the expected closing of our Kurdistan operations, as well as headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half of our financial year. We were able to mitigate some of the early impacts of the pandemic by rapidly developing and delivering the global YouGov COVID-19 Tracker that engaged existing and new clients. The ability of our business model, to drive innovations quickly in response to market changes, gives us confidence that we will continue to outperform our competitors as demonstrated by our above market growth in 2019 (ESOMAR estimates that the market research industry grew 3.9% in 20192).

Based on our performance, our confidence in the outlook for the business and our ability to fund growth without the need for government COVID-19 support funding, we are comfortable with continuing our progressive annual dividend policy and recommending a dividend of 5.0 pence per share for the year ended 31 July 2020.

The key factors driving our continued strong growth are:

robust performance of our two main geographies, the US and the UK, where we continue to focus our efforts and investments;
full integration of YouGov Sport, which is expanding our client coverage beyond traditional sports products and contributing to sales performance; and
panel growth in line with client demand as global Cube-aligned trackers become an increasingly important part of our offering.

We are beginning to appeal to a wider market as innovations in technology, such as YouGov Chat, self-service and ethical activation through YouGov Direct, broaden our offering to an activation platform with capabilities beyond market research.

The dynamics within the data analytics and market research industry are constantly evolving as increasing digitalisation, the use of artificial intelligence to gather data and scrutiny on privacy and transparency are opening up opportunities beyond traditional use cases.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique challenge for traditional research players, hampering their ability to conduct day-to-day operations and deliver on client projects. The qualities of YouGov's digital business model came to the fore during this crisis as we were able to quickly adapt and remain relevant to our clients with our suite of COVID-19 products.

Execution against our strategy to drive future growth

Data Integration

Strategic focus: Fully integrating custom research and client service with our data products and tools to create new value from existing data and open up new revenue streams through customisation

Progress made against this pillar during the year:

productised YouGov Cube- aligned custom trackers (e.g. customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score® ("NPS®") diagnostics, reputation, product usage and attitude) through collaboration between the Custom Research and Data Products divisions;
added new sector-specific data to the YouGov Cube to enable efficient connected-data custom trackers;
commenced restructuring of the client support function from separate teams for each division to a single client service flow;
further developed the YouGov Crunch dashboard tools to include added functionality;
launched self-service functions within YouGov Direct with a view to combining it with the YouGov Collaborate dashboard; and
continued investment in integration of websites, apps, interfaces
and dashboards.

Read more see page 40

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Operational Review

	Commentary from
	Sundip Chahal,
	Chief Operating Officer
	YouGov has continued to expand its footprint, not
	only in established markets, but also across new
	greenfield start-ups which have seen encouraging
2020	progress ahead of initial expectations. This success
has been underpinned by our CenX approach
Accounts	and philosophy - consistent, repeatable, cost-
continuing to see efficiency gains across the core
	effective - enabling us to drive growth. We are
&	business stemming from increased capability and
Report	experience in our CenX worldwide. Our new site in
Bangalore is also enabling greater opportunity in
Annual	technology development. The dispersed, always-
on nature of our business meant that we were able
YouGov	to move quickly to fully working remotely, even
absorbed any short-term loss of productivity as
	in the more difficult locations such as India, and
	we adapted.
	Our sales teams are undergoing a transformation
	to be more integrated across the business, and we
	believe there is still ample headroom, especially in
	the US. We continue to see opportunity for greater
	cross-selling and are confident that the new global
	key account management function can really help
	drive stickiness with large, multi-national clients.
	We also continue to benefit from synergies from
	our acquisition of the SMG Insight business (re-
	branded as YouGov Sport), through the expansion
	of capabilities and awareness in aligned sectors,
	using a similar blueprint.

Data

Products

Description

YouGov's Data Products division comprises our syndicated data products, which are available to clients on a subscription basis. YouGov is continuously capturing live streams of data from its proprietary panel in the YouGov Cube, our unique connected data library. Data Products tap into the Cube, which includes over ten years of historic single-source data, to provide continuous monitoring of brand fundamentals and a detailed portrait of consumer segments.

We provide training to clients when onboarding them to ensure they can extract the highest value from the platform and provide customer support through our global client service teams. Contracts are typically negotiated on an annual basis and clients can adjust the number of users and geographies to suit their marketing needs. Data Products subscribers can also access additional datasets via subscription bolt-ons for specialised needs.

Products

Data Products mainly consists of our YouGov BrandIndex and

YouGov Profiles products, which have been combined into

our YouGov Plan & Track solution. BrandIndex allows users to continuously monitor brand fundamentals including brand awareness, advertising awareness, word of mouth, brand health, consideration, purchase intent, and customer satisfaction. BrandIndex data is updated daily (or bi-weekly or weekly in some developing markets) and includes up to 12 years of historical data.

Profiles offers the largest, most detailed and real-time consumer

database updated weekly. It connects cross-sectional data from panellists on demographics and lifestyle, brand, sector, and media, digital and social data all in one place, combining that with attitudes, interests, views and likes.

Data Products also includes several other products such as YouGov SportsIndex, measuring quality, performance and market potential for the most relevant sports leagues and events globally, and YouGov Signal, which tracks the digital expression of opinions on social media platforms and applies complex machine learning to contextualise online sentiment and conversation. YouGov DestinationIndex is a new tool tracking public opinion of

120 destinations across 25 key markets daily to provide marketers

with insights into the public's perceptions of their destination, as

well as their competitors.

How clients use it

Audience identification and analysis
Media targeting
Campaign effectiveness
Brand health monitoring
Social media listening and analytics

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Data	Custom
Services	Research

Description

YouGov's Data Services division provides clients with fast-turnaround survey services, charged on a rate-card basis. Omnibus surveys are run daily in most territories, providing nationally representative responses to clients within a short timeframe (most countries utilise a 48-hour turnaround, with 24-hour turnaround available in the UK and US). Our targeted services use the same fast-turnaround tools to reach bespoke samples where clients need responses from a more targeted audience.

Our highly trained researchers support clients in designing survey questions in line with best practice, using our user-friendly, interactive questionnaire scripting tool, YouGov Collaborate. It significantly enhances the speed of survey building and ensures users obtain the most accurate and actionable responses. Our research teams also extract connected data on survey respondents, housed within the data-rich YouGov Cube, to allow clients to analyse findings with unrivalled granularity. The results of the surveys and the connected data are reported in YouGov Crunch, our online data visualisation tool, which helps clients interpret and present compelling data to key stakeholders.

Products

YouGov RealTime (known as YouGov Omnibus in the UK and US), is the market-leading online omnibus survey service in the UK and available in 40 markets globally. RealTime is underpinned by YouGov's purpose-built technology and our highly engaged online panel, ensuring you can build surveys, watch live results and interpret robust, reliable data with ease. The size and diversity of the YouGov panel has also enabled us to extend our omnibus services to highly niche groups, for example B2B, C-Suite Directors and Members of UK Parliament. This allows clients with specialised research needs to run targeted surveys in a quick, cost-efficient manner.

YouGov Re-Contact works in conjunction with our subscription data products. Data Products subscribers can use it to undertake one or multiple fast-turnaround Omnibus surveys to augment the syndicated data they receive through YouGov BrandIndex and YouGov Profiles.

Description

YouGov's Custom Research division offers bespoke quantitative and qualitative research services delivered by sector specialists to meet a client's specific requirements. Our sector specialisms include consumer, corporate reputation and B2B, financial services, media and technology, sports and political and public sector. Our researchers work in conjunction with our clients to tailor research projects, from custom samples to questionnaires, and then deliver the results in line with the client's precise needs.

As part of our Data Integration pillar, Custom Research services have been strategically re-positioned to better align with our syndicated data products and services. Our research projects draw upon and build on data we hold in our data library, the Cube, and projects are delivered through our data analytics tool, Crunch. Based on this, we have developed commoditised research products that can be customised to meet specific client needs.

Products

Custom Research projects vary significantly in scope, scale and complexity and can range from large-scale national and multinational tracking studies to one-off surveys designed to address and explore specific commercial, social or political issues for the client.

YouGov Recommend+ is a brand-specific NPS® diagnostics approach to give marketers the full picture on what drives consumer advocacy. Marketing professionals can evaluate the importance of factors such as brand image, brand values, emotion and consumer personality in determining whether someone is likely to recommend a brand.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

How clients use it

Marketing and customer insight
Generate media PR and coverage
Win pitches
Campaign planning and evaluation
Ad tracking and concept testing
New product development

How clients use it

Tracking studies such as campaign effectiveness and customer satisfaction
Brand health and reputation studies
Syndicated studies covering sector or product trends
Qualitative research
Customer profiling

Data Products

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

YouGov's Data Products division comprises our syndicated data products, which are available to clients on a subscription basis.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Financial performance

Revenue from Data Products increased by 24% (21% growth in underlying terms) in the 12 months to 31 July 2020. Strong performance was seen across all geographies, against a difficult trading environment for some clients. Our business model of collecting

and delivering data digitally ensured our clients were able to continuously monitor brand fundamentals and plan effective media campaigns despite the ongoing turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapidly changing consumer behaviour and sentiment increased the importance of receiving up-to-date data and we were able

to capitalise on that client need as demonstrated by our performance.

Adjusted operating profit1 from Data Products increased by 26% to £18.0m and the operating margin increased by 1% to 35% reflecting the operational leverage of the division which benefits from a high level of automation for data collection and product delivery as well as our proprietary data.

2019/20 operational highlights We expanded the geographic reach of our syndicated data products suite during the year through our panel expansion. YouGov BrandIndex is now available in 42 countries (2019: 40) and YouGov Plan & Track (the combined BrandIndex and Profiles proposition) is available in 24 countries (2019: 21). Through our acquisition of SMG Insight (now YouGov Sport), our YouGov SportsIndex data product is available in 38 countries (2019: 38).

Case study

Since YouGov DestinationIndex was developed in 2019, a US-based airline carrier has been leveraging the tool not just to measure and track interest in key destinations, but to identify potential customers and new opportunities through the use of custom audience filters. The client can now measure its brand health by travellers to destinations it services and others around the globe, while filtering its own brand metrics through the most relevant audience segments. In addition, the airline carrier also utilises the data to help determine routes based on interest in travelling to and from specific destinations. This success led to a global launch of the product in July 2020.

Our data products have continuously evolved over the past year to track more brands, sectors and variables on consumers, which has helped us grow our client base and allowed clients to plan and execute more effective campaign strategies and track their success. We have also developed advanced modules of our publicly available YouGov COVID-19 Monitor on a paid-for basis to help clients navigate these challenging times.

Strategic focus

Continue to widen brand and sector coverage to help expand client base
Transition basic client support responsibilities to our CenX to ensure 24/7 availability
Increase understanding of client businesses and challenges internally to enable our teams to address them using integrated YouGov capabilities
Enhance local expertise to provide more effective solutions
Raise level of client service to maintain strong renewal rates

Data Products

16.6	24.1	30.4	41.5	51.3
			34	35

	29	31
27

2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
		Revenue £m

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.	Adjusted operating proﬁt margin1 %	33

Data Services

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

YouGov's Data Services division provides clients with fast-turnaround

survey services, charged on a rate-card basis.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Financial performance

Revenue from Data Services increased by 2% (4% growth in underlying terms) in the 12 months to 31 July 2020. The focus on the US market and further territorial expansion has helped the division expand the revenue base beyond the core UK market. However, growth was moderated in the year due to several factors including a reorganisation in the Nordics, non-recurring election work in Asia Pacific in the prior year, subdued performance in Germany and temporary disruption from an internal sales restructure in the US.

Adjusted operating profit1 from Data Services decreased by 6% to £7.0m and the operating margin declined by 2% to 18%. The margin decline was largely driven by an increase in allocation of central costs and the full-year impact of transferring lower margin project work from the Custom Research division in the Nordics in the prior year. The division has also seen lower underlying growth in recent years which has lowered its ability to absorb rising investment costs.

Strategic focus

Drive efficiencies across the business through automation, offshoring and combining resources with the Custom Research team
Increase client engagement and satisfaction with a goal of driving greater loyalty
Marketing the entire YouGov product suite as one combined offering through focus on Cube-aligned research work
Complete the ongoing reorganisation of the teams with an aim to integrate Europe and Asia by the end of the next financial year

AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Case study

With backing from supporters such as Google, Ofcom and BBC News, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's Digital News Report is

a worldwide study based on YouGov data. Using YouGov RealTime survey tools and Custom Research expertise, the 2020 study is based on data from 80,000 online news consumers in 40 markets - including Kenya and the Philippines for the first time.

The 2020 report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on news consumption and on the economic prospects for publishers. It also looks at progress on new paid online business models, trust and misinformation, partisanship and populism, and the popularity of curated editorial products such as podcasts and email newsletters.

2019/20 operational highlights

As part of the new five-year strategic plan, the Data Services division has been focusing on an operational integration with the Custom Research division in an effort to streamline the research process and deliver higher-quality output and service to our clients. This reorganisation has resulted in some temporary disruption while we better align our teams and provide them with the right tools to deliver growth in the future.

We have also started to build out teams at our CenX that will be able to assist our research teams globally and have already started to see positive results of this transition in the form of greater collaboration between all three divisions on delivering valuable insights to clients.

On the technological front, we have continued to invest in enhancing the capabilities of our YouGov RealTime service, introducing the availability of live reporting of survey results as well as data delivery though our leading-edge Crunch analytics platform. The Data Services team has furthered the development of YouGov Collaborate, our aided self-service tool for the creation of research projects, and it has been implemented across all our internal markets and is being used by

a number of clients.

Data Services

17.9	23.3	29.0	37.2	37.8
29
	24
		21	20
			18

2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
		Revenue £m

2020

1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.	Adjusted operating proﬁt margin1 %	35

Custom Research

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

YouGov's Custom Research division offers bespoke quantitative and qualitative research services delivered

by sector specialists to meet

a client's specific requirements.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Financial performance

Revenue from Custom Research grew by 8% (12% growth in underlying terms) in the 12 months to 31 July 2020, compared to modest growth of 2% in the prior year. The improved performance of the division has largely been driven by the US and UK, as the realignment of the business with our connected data offering began to show positive results. While the division saw some weakness in typical project work, it was offset by COVID-19-related work and continued growth from technology clients. Performance in Mainland Europe was impacted by an ongoing restructuring in the first half of the year, as part of which certain segments were transferred to the Data Services division and recovered in the second half following large contract wins. The Middle East business was impacted by the winding down of the Kurdistan business as part our shift in focus to research projects and tracking studies that draw upon and build on our vast data library.

Adjusted operating profit1 declined by 4% in the year, representing an adjusted operating profit margin of 20% (2019: 22%). This decline was largely due to the closure of the Kurdistan business and an increase in central cost allocations.

Strategic focus

Growing focus on delivering tailored research projects and brand trackers that utilise the data-rich YouGov Cube to provide valuable insights to our clients
Greater collaboration to deliver projects that combine YouGov RealTime, Custom Research and YouGov Cube elements to produce customised deliverables, delivered using the Crunch platform, using leading-edge analytics and research methodologies
Utilise our CenX to complement the local custom research teams, allowing the divisions to be more operationally efficient, delivering greater synergies, and produce a higher-quality output for our clients
Increase exposure of Custom Research among our largest clients and build greater awareness around our research capabilities using our new global key account management structure

Custom Research

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Case study

The Custom Research division plays a key role in YouGov's work with a leader in the plant-based meat sector, providing sector and analytical expertise to inform research approaches, advanced questionnaire design, and results analyses. The Custom Research team acts as key experts in client discussions, leads new initiatives, and produces reporting based on YouGov RealTime and YouGov Profiles datasets. The relationship continues to grow, having recently led to a YouGov Profiles subscription in addition to their full scope of ongoing work.

2019/20 operational highlights The Custom Research division underwent a business transformation during our first five-yearplan ("FYP1") which concluded on 31 July 2019.

As part of this transformation, we moved away from labour-intensive research projects and focused on higher-margin contracts that use the power of our connected dataset. During 2019/20, we completed the final step in that process by exiting our Kurdistan business.

During the year, as part our Data Integration pillar, our Custom Research division has developed tracking studies using the YouGov Cube that provide a customised, scalable way of delivering research data and valuable insights

to clients. These trackers minimise the need for proactive data collection required for each new Custom Research project while providing more connected and tailored data. This has resulted in the launch of several new products such as our NPS® tracking product, YouGov Recommend+, and our COVID-19 suite of products.

54.3 60.2	58.7	60.0	64.6
		20	22	20

13	15

2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
		Revenue £m

1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.	Adjusted operating proﬁt margin1 %	37

Section 172 Statement

Our approach

Under S172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 ("S172"), the Directors of YouGov plc (the "Company") are obligated to act in the way they consider would be most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of its shareholders as a whole. In doing so, the Directors must have regard (among other matters) to:

the likely consequences of any decision in the long term;
the interests of the Company's employees;
the need to foster the Company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others;
the impact of the Company's operations on the community and the environment;
the desirability of the Company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct; and
the need to act fairly as between shareholders of the Company.

YouGov's governance framework is conducive to Board-level decisions being made with stakeholder interests, and the longer-term impact, in mind.

On the following page are some examples of how the Board of Directors considered matters and reached decisions, demonstrating how they have had regard for S172 when discharging their duties this year.

For more information on the groups we have identified as the Company's key stakeholders and how we engage with them, see pages 40 to 43.

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Information is provided in Board papers which take into consideration the views of stakeholders (e.g. major investor input on reporting). Templated Board papers nudge the writers to consider stakeholder interests.

The Board is satisfied that information

provided is of sufficient quality to aid their decision-making; seeking assurance if required.

The Board's decisions are communicated to wider stakeholders.

Directors receive training on their duties to ensure their awareness of their responsibilities.

Board

information

Board strategic

discussion

Board

decision

Presentations to the Board by both internal and external subject matter experts, and external advisors.

The Board takes into consideration

S172 factors in its strategic

discussions, such as the long-term

implication of decisions on the business

and the impact on stakeholders.

Actions are taken to implement

the Board's decisions.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Design and implementation of new long-term incentive plan

Stakeholders

Section 172 considerations

Matter for discussion

The Board sought a suitable replacement long-term incentive plan for Executive Directors and key management, in advance of the expiry of the LTIP 2014.

How the Board considered S172

LTIP 2019 was designed to promote long-term thinking by participants and achievement of long-term business targets.

In designing the rules, the Board:

engaged external remuneration consultants to advise on
the appropriate structure of a plan consistent with the Company's objectives and employee interests;
consulted our major shareholders to ensure that their expectations were met by the new plan;
considered the shareholder dilution impact; and
considered and approved documentation to support the plan delivery including an operational guide for the Remuneration Committee and a guide for participants.

Outcomes and actions

Plan launched in November 2019, with participants scheduled to receive their first awards in October
2020, subject to satisfactory achievement of their personal performance objectives and approval by the Remuneration Committee.
Prior to the grant of awards under the LTIP 2019, the latest shareholder dilution position will be considered by the Remuneration Committee.

External assurance of internal controls

Stakeholders

Section 172 considerations

Matter for discussion

The Board identified a need for an external assurance review of key internal control areas by subject matter experts - in addition to the routine annual external audits.

How the Board considered S172

The Board sought insight from stakeholders in the business to consider their views on the value of an assurance programme, areas to be targeted for review and, once underway, their views on the output of the assurance reports.

The Board tasked management to create roadmaps to tackle the recommendations from the assurance reports. In scrutinising the roadmaps, the Audit and Risk Committee considered the long- term consequences of decisions made (e.g. investment in resources and technological solutions) and the strategic approach to the actions.

The Audit & Risk Committee sought advice from subject matter experts on the proposed improvements, keeping in mind the desire to maintain a reputation for high standards of business conduct.

Outcomes and actions

Board commitment to an ongoing assurance programme of key control areas, by external assurance specialists.
For more on our external assurance programme, see page 74.

Implementation of new		Operational response to
client services structure		the COVID-19 pandemic
Stakeholders		Stakeholders

Section 172 considerations		Section 172 considerations

Matter for discussion		Matter for discussion

During the reporting year, the Board		The COVID-19 pandemic posed
oversaw a restructure of the UK		unprecedented disruption to our
and US client-facing teams into		business during the year - from
three layers to improve the client		closure of offices to tightened
onboarding and service experience.		marketing budgets.
How the Board considered S172		How the Board considered S172

The CEO undertook client		The Board was key to determining
satisfaction interviews with major		the approach we took to our
clients during financial years		COVID-19 response, validating the
2018/19 and 2019/20. The output		work and recommendations of the
of these interviews was shared with		YouGov COVID-19 Response Team
and discussed by the whole Board.		("CRT") and enabling us to maintain
Led by the COO, Executive		high levels of business continuity.

Management designed the Strategic		In assessing the information and
Sales Plan which was approved by		recommendations provided by the
the full Board. In developing the new		CRT, the Board took into account
structure, and prior to communication		the impact of the operational
with the wider workforce,		response on multiple stakeholder
Executive Management:		groups - employees, clients,
― engaged with senior and		suppliers and shareholders
	in particular.
middle managers about the

proposed changes;		With the Company's interim results
― reported on the planned
	announcement falling due at the
changes to the Board; and
	time of the FRC's moratorium on
― sought the Board's insight into
	corporate reporting - applied
the plans during development.		due to pandemic-related market
The Board considered the long-		uncertainty - the Board took
term impact of the decision for the		into consideration the regulator's
business; short-term disruption		recommendation and shareholder
outweighed by long-term benefits.		interests in taking the decision to
		postpone the results by one week.
Outcomes and actions		Outcomes and actions

― Phased restructure		―	Our business remained
commenced during 2019/20 in				operational throughout global
UK and US.				lockdowns; no staff furloughed.
― The CEO and COO continue to		―	Board activities continued
provide regular updates to the				virtually throughout the
Board on progress.				lockdown period, utilising
				online solutions for Board
				papers and meetings to ensure
				a seamless transition.
		― Return to Office Working
				Group established to manage
				the complex office reopening
				plans globally.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Key

Panellists		the likely consequences of any decision in the long term
Employees		the interests of the Company's employees
Community		the impact of the Company's operations on the community and the environment
Clients		the desirability of the Company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct
Suppliers and partners		the need to foster the Company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others
Shareholders		the need to act fairly between shareholders of the Company
Media

Our Stakeholders

YouGov is committed to driving long-term sustainable performance for the benefit of our stakeholders.

	In this section, we present
	the groups we have
	identified as our key
	stakeholders, summarise
	what matters to them, and
	outline how we engage with
2020	them both at Board level and
more widely.
Annual Report & Accounts

YouGov

Panellists

At over 11 million registered members, our proprietary global panel is our largest stakeholder group and is essential to our success. Engaged, diverse and opinionated panellists are key to our business. Ensuring effective engagement with

our panel is central to what we do.

What matters to them

Security of their information

We work hard to ensure that we provide clear and accessible information to panellists about how we use their personal data.

Rewarding user experience

We aim to provide a rewarding and compelling user experience for panellists, constantly seeking to optimise the benefit they receive for the effort they put in.

How we use the information they share with us YouGov is committed to the ethical use of personal data, and we endeavour to provide clear and comprehensive information for panellists about what data we collect from them, and how we use it.

How we engage at Board level

At each meeting the Board receives a panel report on the health and representativeness of our panel. During the year, the Board received a presentation by the Global Panel Director on panel innovations.

How we engage across YouGov

Keeping employees informed

It is important all staff understand the fundamentals of our panel. To increase engagement around the business, we share key panel statistics and have

a dedicated section on Youniverse (our intranet).

Employees as panellists

We encourage our employees to become panellists so that they can fully appreciate the panellist experience.

Ensuring a representative panel

It is imperative that our global panel is representative of the markets we are operating in. We invest in technology to reach panellists who may not be open to a traditional approach.

For more on our panellists, see page 46.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Employees

To keep innovating and developing at the rate necessary to attain our strategic objectives, we hire high-achieving, talented employees and in return they rely on us to provide good employer value.

What matters to them

Employer value

The benefits which employees receive in return for the skills and experience which they bring to the business.

Work environment

Employees want to be safe, comfortable and secure in their workspace.

How we engage at Board level Employee engagement reports and updates on relevant projects are presented to the Board.

The Board travels away from our UK headquarters twice annually to meet employees in other offices. This year, our November meetings took place at our Copenhagen office.

How we engage across YouGov

Internal communications

We leverage various platforms for internal communications, including Global Town Halls and our intranet, Youniverse. To enable virtual collaboration between colleagues, we provide tools such as Zoom and Office 365.

Diversity & Inclusion Task Force

The employee-led task force aims to identify a set of actions to make YouGov a more diverse and inclusive place to work. Read more on page 47.

Pulse surveys

In our monthly Pulse surveys we check in with employees on their wellbeing and mental health.

Engagement Champions

Our network of Engagement Champions are responsible for engaging their teams in Pulse surveys and working to improve employee engagement.

For more on our employees, see page 49.

Community

We supply select data to the public free of charge as a public service, through our Public Data initiative, and we support industry initiatives which benefit the research community.

What matters to them

Free public data

Providing free access to high-quality public data gives researchers access to a store of opinion research that would otherwise only be accessible to those who could afford it.

Supporting industry initiatives

As a key employer in the research and data analytics industry, our public support of initiatives to benefit those working in our industry is important.

How we engage at Board level

The Board developed the current strategy and determined that key strategic pillars of FYP2 would be a focus on public data and the ethical collection and use of data (for more on our strategic pillars, see page 16).

How we engage across YouGov

Public Data initiatives

Through our Public Data initiatives, we make a wide range of information available for free to the public. This free data is delivered via our website and directly to certain organisations. See page 20 for more detail, including our in-depth YouGov COVID-19 Behaviour Tracker and YouGov COVID-19 Public Tracker.

Sponsoring MRS Pride

We have been delighted to once again sponsor the UK Market Research Society's "MRS Pride" initiative in 2020. MRS Pride is designed to provide a platform for LGBTQ+ consumer insight and methodology best practice. Our sponsorship has supported events which aim to create a new space and community for LGBTQ+ research, insight and analytics professionals as well as educate allies.

For more on our community engagement, see page 46.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Our stakeholders continued

Clients

Our client base is predominantly focussed on marketing activities and includes some of the world's most recognisable brands.

Clients rely on our supply of high-quality, accurate data to enable intelligent decision- making and informed conversations.

What matters to them Understanding their needs and meeting them It is important that we engage with clients to understand their needs. This enables us to target our innovations into areas of demand and remain competitive.

Veracity and legality of the data we provide

Our clients rely upon our data for decision-making and it is therefore imperative that we conduct our research diligently, ensuring an accurate product which has been obtained in an ethical way.

How we engage at Board level Alongside regular client updates from Executive Management, the Board receives client presentations at the annual Board strategy meeting each year.

Feedback from clients is on the agenda at each Board meeting, as part of the CEO's report. The CEO regularly conducts interviews with major clients and reports learnings back to the Board.

How we engage across YouGov

Key account management

We are educating the business about our client- centric approach so that we are all engaging with our clients in an improved and consistent manner.

Product education

We hold webinars for staff to learn about new products and how to pitch them to clients. For our clients, we offer webinars on how to get the most out of our tools, led by subject matter experts.

Sharing commercial updates

A regular feature of our Global Town Hall meetings is an update on client wins and projects, encouraging employees from all departments to understand the key clients for our business and how we are supporting them.

For more information on our client offering, see page 52.

Suppliers and partners

We aim to work with organisations that match our values and share our ethical approach to business. Our supply chain plays a vital role in supporting our growth and enabling us to meet the needs of our clients and other stakeholders.

What matters to them

Clarity of terms

We use formal contracts (including master services agreements) with suppliers that are appropriate for the type of service provided.

Payment in a timely manner

Prompt payment is always important, but particularly so during the challenging economic climate this year.

Mutually beneficial relationships

It is important for our suppliers to benefit from our relationship with them, as we will from them.

We are delighted to have key partner relationships in some areas of the business, for example our YouGov Global Partnerships Programme partners (helping us to promote YouGov products and services in regions where we do not have our own presence) and our Panel Acquisition partners (working to grow our panel in targeted areas).

How we engage at Board level

The Board receives updates on supplier and partner relationships from the COO at each meeting.

How we engage across YouGov

Supplier Assessment Process

This year we launched a Supplier Assessment Process, to improve due diligence checks and to provide a more efficient onboarding process for the suppliers themselves.

For more information on our suppliers and partners, see page 47.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Shareholders

Our Executive Management engages with shareholders regularly throughout the year to ensure they are apprised of our strategic growth plans and financial results. Institutions make up the majority of YouGov's shareholder base, accounting for around 60% of the shareholding at year-end.

What matters to them

Return on their investment and a business operating in a way that is consistent with their expectations.

How we engage at Board level

Our Board regularly engages with investors on matters such as financial performance and strategy. We hold investor roadshows in the UK and US each year (these have been held virtually in 2020).

Our Annual General Meeting is an opportunity for shareholders to meet the Board to discuss the Annual Report & Accounts and other matters.

During the year, meetings take place between investors and both the Non-Executive and Executive Directors on an ad hoc basis.

How we engage across YouGov

Investment in our investors

During the year we invested in additional resource dedicated to investor relations, creating a new Investor Relations Manager role.

Corporate website

In 2019, we launched a new corporate website to provide streamlined access to all our published corporate data and additional resources

for investors.

Annual Report & Accounts

Our Annual Report & Accounts is prepared each year to provide details to our shareholders on the performance of the business and operation of the Board and is a key document for investor engagement.

For more information on engagement with shareholders, see page 70.

Media

Our research is a trusted resource regularly referenced by media outlets worldwide. During the year to 31 July 2020, among our global market research competitors, YouGov ranked first when it came to the volume of media mentions. In respect of individual countries, YouGov ranked first in the UK and Germany, and second in the US.

What matters to them

Access to accurate data

Journalists regard YouGov as a trusted source of accurate data, enabling them to quote our research with confidence.

Topical research

Access to our large proprietary panel enables us to provide quick turnaround on topical research.

How we engage at Board level

The CEO provides updates to the Board meetings on media mentions and engagement.

How we engage across YouGov

Content Marketing team

We have a Content Marketing team dedicated to creating and distributing quality insights based on YouGov data. We are known for our independent editorial stance.

Key media partners

The flagship programme of US television network Comedy Central, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, has partnered with YouGov for the 2020 US Presidential Election to measure public attitudes with a hint of comedy. The collaboration provides in-depth research about attitudes among US voters and offers an accessible entry point for the US public to read important opinion data around the election.

Keeping panellists informed

Where a panellist participates in a survey which results in media coverage, where possible we will inform them so that they can see how their response contributed to a news article, for example.

For more information on our media mentions this year, see pages 16 and 17.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Environmental, Social and Governance

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Highlights

YouGov's core mission is to give people a voice.
We are proactively keeping our ESG practices relevant and fit for purpose.
Governance has a key role in our strategic plan.

Q&A

Stephan Shakespeare, Chief Executive Officer, talks to us about YouGov's approach to environmental, governance and social factors ("ESG")

What does good ESG practice look like at YouGov?

Our commitment to ESG is core to what we do. We operate lawfully and ethically in all areas relevant to our business, including how we collect data from panellists, how we service our clients, and how we handle our employee data internally. We have a responsibility

to protect the privacy of all our stakeholders, and to "get it right" - one of our Company Values - for them.

We are proactively keeping our ESG practices relevant and fit for purpose, and we have a solid governance framework to support that. We also have anti-bribery and corruption policies in place, as well as a whistleblowing policy, in order to avoid breaches of the rules.

Our environmental footprint is minimal because we're working fully online, and we have minimal business travel. However we are keen on conducting accurate reporting and finding ways to reduce our environmental impact where we can.

We are also committed to having a positive impact on society, by keeping our employees engaged and giving them opportunities to grow with the Company.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

An example of this has been supporting our employees with the setting up of an internal Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, as a way to give a voice to our workforce around how to make YouGov more diverse and inclusive, across everything that we do.

This all said, the most effective approach to ESG is to focus on what you're best at.

What are YouGov's ESG strengths?

YouGov's core mission is to give people a voice. One of the things that makes us unique as YouGov is that we invest hugely in public data. What it means is that we have websites (such as yougov.co.uk/topics) dedicated to making a huge amount of our data free - thousands of interviews per day are dedicated to this, to make sure everyone's voice is heard and everyone has access to the best and most complete store of opinion research. Further, we give a lot of free polling to academia as well as some charities. We believe this is the best use of our resources for ESG.

The YouGov COVID-19 Tracker that we launched in partnership with Imperial College London is a good example of projects where we supported academia and health organisations with what we do best, our research.

We have very good examples of cases where our data has triggered positive changes in societies. A good example, which came from our team in Asia Pacific, is a survey we ran about rent discrimination, which resulted in a ministerial decision to issue an anti- discrimination law. This is exactly the type of work we can do for society, because it's what we're uniquely positioned to do, and what we're best at. And we'll continue investing in public data to strengthen our ESG impact.

How do you ensure that employee engagement is effective?

This question is particularly pertinent in the full remote working environment that we've had to adopt since the COVID-19 pandemic.

We coincidentally launched our new intranet (Youniverse) while all our offices were closed due to lockdowns, offering a new avenue for engagement for our employees globally. The launch of the intranet was part of an increased effort to invest in internal communications, which also involved hiring a dedicated team to support leadership comms and internal comms overall.

We have also been organising regular global virtual Town Halls, during which the executive team give updates to all employees and take questions during interactive Q&A sessions.

We ran four consecutive monthly "Pulse" surveys with all employees during the pandemic to gauge their wellbeing and mental health, as well as the level of satisfaction with communications from the leadership and management. The survey results led to setting up a network of "Engagement Champions" from across the business, working closely with HR to ensure that there's

a two-way communication between employees on the one hand and HR and senior leaders on the other.

We are scheduled to run a larger and more comprehensive annual engagement survey later in this calendar year, which should allow us to see if there has been progress in levels of engagement across the Company and across teams.

What is YouGov's approach to diversity and inclusion?

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is that it should be part of everything that we do.

For panellists, we're developing new ways to reach out to groups that are often under-represented in research, through the newly launched YouGov Chat feature, for example. We are also making sure that we're representing ethnic minorities, to accurately reflect all communities within the panel.

We're making our language in research more inclusive, and our product and technology teams are looking into inclusive design to enable users with specific needs to access our panel and services. They are also taking action to ban using discriminatory language in technology.

None of the above can be done without having a truly diverse workforce, in

an inclusive workplace. We are very keen on attracting and retaining the best talent. And best talent also means a diverse pool of talent, with various backgrounds and perspectives to avoid all possible biases, which is key to what we do.

We're also keen to improve gender diversity and we've been reporting on our UK gender pay gap for three years. Our Diversity & Inclusion Task Force has also conducted a survey and a set of focus groups to canvas the opinions of our employees in order to identify a set of actions that will help us make YouGov more diverse and inclusive.

What role does governance play in YouGov's strategic plan?

Governance has a key role in our strategic plan. It allows us to safeguard all the valuable data that we get from panellists daily, through the governance frameworks that we have in place

to protect it. We take our position as custodian of our panellists' data very seriously.

The importance of good governance underpins our reputation as a trusted player, and it is central to our business model. The trust of our panellists and clients is an asset that we need to protect and look after.

YouGov Direct is a good example of good governance around ethical activation, in line with GDPR. We are fully dedicated to adopting good social ethics and the way to achieve that is to ensure governance frameworks and processes are in place and are regularly reviewed and updated to remain relevant

and pertinent.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Environmental, Social and Governance continued

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

YouGov recognises the importance of ESG factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of the Group. The Board sees ESG as key to a successful strategy for the business and the new positioning of our ESG report in the Strategic Report better reflects the importance of ESG to YouGov.

In this report we explain how ESG factors run through the core of what we do, discussing each area in turn.

Social

It is YouGov's mission to make people's opinions heard for the benefit of the wider community. We provide insights into what the world thinks.

Our panel

Protecting our panellists' data Central to our business model is our proprietary global panel of over 11 million registered members, and the opinion data they entrust us with. Our Data Protection and Information Security teams work closely with a dedicated Panel team to ensure the safety of our panellist's data. We pride ourselves on consent rates in excess of 90% for the collection and use of the "special categories" of data outlined in the EU General Data Protection Regulations, and work hard to ensure that we provide clear and accessible information to panellists about how we use their personal data.

Quick and convenient reward

Our industry-leadingre-contact rates are testament to the strength of our proposition to panellists. Our Panel team works closely with our technology and data teams to design new features to enhance the panellist experience, using panellist feedback systematically to understand where the user experience can be improved. A focus this year has been on diversifying the reward options available to panellists and speeding up fulfilment through integrations with global partners.

Ensuring a representative panel

It is imperative that our global panel is representative of the markets in which we operate. We communicate with panellists in many languages. An area of focus for us is ensuring the diversity of panellists, including adapting our methods of panel engagement to reach new or previously under-represented groups. During the year we have invested in developing new technology, such as YouGov Chat (yougov.chat),

to reach panellists who may not be open to the more traditional online survey approach.

Our community

Enabling public discourse

One of our key strategic pillars for FYP2 is the provision of accurate public data and we make a wide range of information available for free via our website (see page 16 for more detail on our strategic pillars). In addition, we provide certain polling services to academic institutions for free to support their work - utilising the same research methodology and expertise that we use for our paying clients.

Sharing knowledge and insights To support the healthcare research community and public health bodies across the world, we have partnered with Imperial College London to gather global insights on people's behaviours and opinions in response to COVID-19,with the data being freely available for public health researchers in the form of our in-depthYouGov COVID-19Behaviour Tracker (coviddatahub.com). For more information on this initiative, see the case study on page 20.

To provide aid directly to the World Health Organisation ("WHO") pandemic response, YouGov partnered with Imperial College London, Oxford University, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network to deliver free data, surveys and research reports to the WHO on a weekly basis on topics such as public health, compliance and health policy response in over

20 countries.

Transparency

We operate in an industry where data protection and the ethical treatment of data is of paramount importance. We are clear that we are an ethical handler of the data with which we are entrusted. We provide information on our approach to data privacy and security on our corporate website (corporate.yougov. com/compliance), explaining how we keep information safe.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Our suppliers and our partners

Our supply chain is vital to supporting our growth and enabling us to meet the needs of our business. When choosing suppliers, we work to ensure that they align with our values and share our approach to ethical business.

Choosing our suppliers and partners During the year we undertook a major review of how we assess and onboard suppliers. As a result, we were

We take privacy and data security very seriously, and believe that everyone's personal data should be handled responsibly regardless of where an individual resides.

pleased to launch our new Supplier Approval Process, which includes an assessment of suitability, a due diligence assessment, a legal review of the contract and financial onboarding. The due diligence assessment enables us to understand the supplier's approach to compliance and governance -

from privacy and data security to their approach to environmental management and sanctions compliance.

Robust legal documentation

Our Legal team reviews all key supplier contracts, ensuring a consistent approach with fair and reasonable terms for both parties.

Timely payments

During the year we reviewed our payment processes and made improvements. For example, our updated Purchase Order process ensures that costs are approved prior to submission of invoice so that any queries can be dealt with upfront.

Human rights in our supply chain We have adopted a Modern Slavery Act Statement since 2018, which is published annually on our Corporate website (corporate.yougov.com/ modernslavery). Our suppliers are asked to confirm their approach to eliminating modern slavery in their supply chain as part of our Supplier Approval Process. We operate in a relatively low-riskindustry from this perspective but we acknowledge that no industry is entirely without risk.

Our culture and values

We expect our staff to exercise high professional, ethical and moral standards - and we foster the culture to enable them to do so. Ours is a culture where operating quickly, efficiently and innovatively is valued, but cutting corners to achieve that is not.

Our values adopted in 2019 - be fast, be fearless, get it right, trust each other - reflect our culture. We work to be ahead of our competitors and be innovative but backed by the requirement to always get it right; to not sacrifice accuracy and ethics to achieve growth. Our governance framework provides employees with the support to raise concerns where they identify unethical behaviour. For more information on our governance framework see page 51.

During the year, our corporate culture has been tested with staff away from our office spaces and working remotely for long periods of time. We look at how we approached some of those challenges in "Our people" overleaf. Our workforce's ability to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic, their resilience in the face of potential disruption, is testament to them and to our culture.

As YouGov has adopted the QCA Corporate Governance Code, the Board is not required to formally consider the requirements of the FRC's Corporate Governance Code on the assessment and monitoring of culture. However, we do take the following into consideration when assessing corporate culture:

Employee engagement responses (see page 49)
Whistleblowing notifications (see page 72)
Health and safety performance
(see page 49)
Progress on diversity and inclusion (see below)
Progress on reducing the gender pay gap (see page 49)
Investment in learning and development (see page 49)
Findings from audits (see page 51)

Diversity and inclusion

Respect for diversity and inclusion is at the heart of all we do.

In response to the Black Lives Matter social movement, employees at YouGov set up an internal Diversity & Inclusion ("D&I") Task Force, consisting of members from across all regions and functions, including research, development, data science and corporate services. This initiative was highly welcomed by the workforce and Executive Management engages with it enthusiastically. The D&I Task Force is looking into ways of removing barriers to diversity not only within the workplace, but also within our panel, product and research methodologies.

In the UK, we are pleased to be a Stonewall Diversity Champion and are committed to the Disability Confident scheme.

We work to ensure that opportunities for training, career development and promotion are equal for all.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Environmental, Social and Governance continued

Workforce diversity1

	Gender
	Senior leadership		Reports to senior		All employees
	(Executive Management		leadership
	and their direct reports)
& Accounts 2020	Female	31%	Female	45%	Female	43%
Report
Male	69%	Male	54%	Male	52%
		Not speciﬁed	1%	Not speciﬁed	5%
Annual

YouGov
	Region			Age

United Kingdom	33%	19 and under	1%
Europe	23%	20 - 29	39%
Americas	21%	30 - 39	38%
MENA & India	14%	40 - 49	16%
Asia Paciﬁc	9%	50 - 59	5%
		60+	2%

48 1 Percentages based on a total of 1,146 employees as at 31 July 2020.

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Our people

YouGov is committed to providing an inclusive working environment, in which our employees can realise their potential free from discrimination or harassment. We endeavour to foster a diverse workforce, representative of the regions in which we operate.

Listening and engaging

In prior years' employee engagement surveys, communication from management was identified as an area which needed improvement. We have invested in improvements, leading to:

Global Town Halls

Hosted by Executive Management and supported by guest presenters, Town Halls are all-staff meetings hosted from different global locations and streamed live. During the pandemic, these have continued virtually. Each Town Hall includes a section in which employees who have demonstrated our core values that month are amplified.

Youniverse, our intranet

During the year we launched a new global intranet, Youniverse. At time of writing we have over 1,100 users globally, representing 100% of our workforce. Articles are published daily to support Company initiatives (such as cyber security awareness) and to increase understanding of different teams and business areas (a regular "Team Spotlight" series).

Pulse surveys

We run an annual employee engagement survey, but during the year we have also launched monthly "Pulse surveys". In each survey, we check in with our workforce on their wellbeing and mental health - which is particularly important when we are working

Representation matters

We support the rights of our employees to join trade unions and workers' councils. Where workers' bodies exist, we ensure that our processes involve them in any decision-making as appropriate.

Reporting

This year was the third year of our gender pay gap reporting in the UK. You can view the full report on our website (corporate.yougov.com/ genderpaygap). Our focus remains on closing the gender pay gap where it exists, not just in the UK but across the Group. Measures taken this year regarding improving the quality of our HR data to make informed decisions, launching our new D&I Task Force and reviewing our policies to ensure they are employee-friendly all contribute towards this objective. These measures also move us forward towards a point where we may be able to readily identify and report on other pay gap areas in the future.

Investing in HR

Our HR function has undergone reorganisation and investment during 2019/20 in order to meet the demands of the business and our intensive growth plans.

Attracting, retaining and developing talent

Our commitment to attracting, retaining and developing talent is reflected in the investment we have made in this area and the measures we have in place to ensure YouGov is an industry-leading, attractive and rewarding place to work. During the year, these measures led by our HR team have included:

Additionally, benefits such as flexible working opportunities, and long-term share incentive plans for key employees, help us to attract and retain talent.

Health, safety and wellbeing YouGov takes all reasonable and practicable steps to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of its employees. We recognise our responsibility for the health and safety of those who may be affected by our activities and take care to operate in a safe and secure manner.

Activities this year included:

establishing a Global Facilities function with oversight of health and safety management globally;
collating our health and safety guidance on Youniverse to increase accessibility for our staff;
in the UK, training a group of Mental Health First Aiders to support colleagues through mental health crises at work; and
engaging an external Occupational Health resource to assist our employees with medical or other issues which impact their ability to work.

This has been a year which has challenged our health and safety practices in unprecedented ways; you can read more about how we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic overleaf.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

remotely. The Pulse surveys also provide opportunity to ask employees their views on topical issues, which has included diversity and inclusion.

Championing employee engagement Our network of Engagement Champions has been established by the Talent Development team. These employees, representative of all areas in the business, are responsible for engaging their teams in Pulse surveys, analysing the results of these surveys and working with their teams to improve the employee experience.

See more about our employee engagement and our Board's active engagement with employees on pages 41 and 93.

Measure	Work undertaken

Employer value	Defining our EVP so that we can communicate it to our
proposition ("EVP")	people and prospective new joiners.
Recruitment from within	Improving our Performance Management process in
	preparation for launching our new Talent Management
	framework.
Graduate programme	70% of the graduates who completed the programme
	this year have taken permanent roles at YouGov.
Learning and	Held focus groups to identify good management
development framework	skills and behaviours, and began work to refresh the
	framework.
Learning and	LinkedIn Learning launched during the year, enabling
development resources	staff to complete self-directede-learning. Since
	launch in April 2020, there have been 676 active users
	with over 1,365 training hours completed.
Reward function	A new Head of Reward role was created to manage
	reward activity and help shape the reward strategy.

Environmental, Social and Governance continued

Our governance in action during the COVID-19 pandemic

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

In early March 2020, the Group Head of Governance convened the first meeting of the YouGov COVID-19 Response Team ("CRT"), a group set up to monitor the changing environment and make executive decisions regarding continuity of business operations and staff safety. The CRT consists of the Executive Management plus senior leaders from Governance, HR, IT, Operations and Facilities. Initially meeting weekly, this group has:

developed the business response to the pandemic and documented decisions taken;
managed pandemic-related risks while offices remained open - implementing processes to self- declare illness or exposure to COVID-19 to enable track and trace within offices;
communicating a business travel ban;
implemented new staff absence recording specific to COVID-19
- related illness or caring responsibilities, to enable the business to identify areas where teams may be under-resourced due to absence;
empowered local management to make office closure decisions in line with Government guidance;

approved the Group Emergency Remote Working and COVID-19 policies to provide a new governance framework for handling office closures, remote working, returning to office and wellbeing;
communicated with the business to keep staff informed; and
established the Return to Office
Working Group ("RTOWG") to work through the detail of office reopening plans.

Back to the office

As a business we are fortunate that we had an established culture of remote and flexible working, which enabled us to switch seamlessly to remote working with the exception of some minor disruption to our CenX operations based in India and Romania. However, the prospect of reopening offices

was far more complex given the new, and changing, regulations on social distancing and hygiene which differ across countries.

The RTOWG consists of management from HR, Governance, Operations, IT, Facilities and Data Protection. Meeting regularly since August, this group created a set of guidelines and resources to help offices reopen to staff in a safe and secure way.

Utilising the expertise from the different specialists in the group, it:

created an Employee Return to
Office Risk Assessment which has been rolled out globally;
created a phased approach to office reopening taking into consideration social distancing measures; and
worked with local management to prepare plans in compliance with the guidelines which were then presented to Executive Management for approval..

What happens next

We continue to monitor developments, seeking to reopen our offices where appropriate while supporting staff who are working remotely.

We are engaging closely with our workforce and adapting, as required, to their concerns alongside the latest Government guidance.

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Governance

Our governance framework

The governance framework at YouGov is supported by our Governance team. You can read more about its activities in the Corporate Governance Report on pages 68 to 72.

Leadership

Executive Management is supported by a global leadership team of 25 who meet remotely on a regular basis. In January 2020, the whole team met in person in Dubai for a three-day conference sharing FYP2 departmental operational plans.

New senior leadership roles were created this year to support the growing business in its drive to meet its targets, including: General Counsel (heading up our in-house Legal function); Deputy CFO (providing support to the CFO in his leadership of the Finance function); and Group HR Director (overseeing the Human Resources function).

In addition to the Board Committees we have a number of governance and leadership committees, including the Information Security Committee and the Data Privacy Committee outlined overleaf.

Measured policies

We have a suite of policies and procedures that provide guidance on the standards to which we operate, implementing our governance framework. All policies, including those on data security and privacy, are subject to review on an annual basis, including formal Board approval for key compliance policies (for information see page 72. These reviews ensure that the policies remain fit for purpose and help to identify where changes need to be made to accommodate the growing business. We are a business with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, fast moving and innovative. It is therefore important that our governance policies complement the business and enable it to achieve its goals.

Robust risk management and internal controls

The Board's Audit & Risk Committee has oversight of risk management and internal controls at YouGov, including the implementation of the Group Risk Management Policy and Procedure. As part of our work to continuously improve our internal controls as the business grows, the Audit & Risk Committee oversaw an external assurance programme in 2020. You can read more about our risk management programme on page 60 and internal controls on page 62.

Our data security and privacy framework

The global data security and privacy landscape has changed considerably in recent years and continues to do so. GDPR is now the world's most comprehensive data protection regulation, the CCPA has reignited the discussion around privacy rights in the US, and many other countries are creating or updating their legal frameworks to strengthen the rights that people have over their data.

As a global data company and provider of research insights in more than

40 markets, we take privacy and data security very seriously, and believe that everyone's personal data should be handled responsibly regardless of where an individual resides. We have therefore decided to incorporate the GDPR's principles and framework as much as possible into our global operations, while complying with all other applicable privacy and security obligations in the markets in which we operate.

While our responsibilities may originate from many laws, regulations and guidelines that apply to us,

we believe that complying is more than a box-ticking exercise; it is an opportunity to create and reinforce trusted relationships with anyone who provides us with their personal data - from those who participate in our surveys, to our clients and to our employees. It is also an opportunity to enhance our reputation for accuracy and transparency.

Dedicated resource

Executive Management is the decision- making body in respect of data privacy and security at YouGov. Our Group Data Protection Officer and Group Information Security Manager work within the Governance team to develop policy and training, advise the business on data security and privacy issues and raise awareness within the staff.

External audit

Our information security management system is subject to external audit annually by the British Standards Institute ("BSI") as part of our ISO 27001 certification. In addition, our external auditors conduct an audit of IT controls. Actions raised from audits are tracked to completion and reportable to the Audit & Risk Committee.

ISO 27001

YouGov has established, implemented and continues to maintain an information security management system that is certified to ISO 27001:2013 for client confidential information. The system defines our policies and processes

for securing the information we hold and process.

We continuously assess risk and improve the security of our systems and processes in order to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Our security processes include the provision of regular security training to all employees, reviews

of security policies and security testing on our systems including penetration testing and external/third- party assessments.

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Environmental, Social and Governance continued

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Committees

There are two committees with specific responsibility to consider and manage data security and privacy, with overlapping membership:

Data Privacy Committee:
Led by the Group Data Protection
Officer, the committee consists of representatives from the Governance, Legal, IT Infrastructure, IT Security and Panel teams. In 2019/20, the Committee met ten times.
Information Security Committee: Led by the Group Information Security Manager, the committee consists of the COO and representatives from the Governance, Data Protection IT Infrastructure and IT Security teams. In 2019/20, the Committee met 11 times.

Raising awareness

We hold a Data Protection & Security Awareness Month on the anniversary of the GDPR coming into force each May. This year we utilised email communications and Youniverse to raise awareness of important topics for our workforce including how to identify phishing attempts.

Compulsory training

We have a suite of compulsory data protection and security e-learning training. We have moved our e-learning modules to a new platform this year, which enables us to better track the completion by all staff (employees and contractors). In the year, 99% of staff required to do compulsory training have completed it.

Identifying and responding to breaches YouGov has a Personal Data Breach Policy setting out the procedures

for identifying and responding to personal data breaches. Identifying a potential personal data breach is the responsibility of all YouGov staff, who are given guidelines and regular training to ensure this topic is always front-of-mind. The YouGov Breach Response Team ("BRT") is responsible for determining the nature of reported incidents and deciding the response. The BRT is a cross-functional group that assesses the risk any of incident, ensures YouGov complies with any notification obligations, investigates the root cause and recommends any mitigations or process improvements to reduce the risk of a repeat or similar incident.

Subject access requests

Many privacy laws around the world give individuals rights in relation to the personal data held by organisations like YouGov. As a company that has such a close relationship with the individuals whose data we collect, such as panellists and our employees, we know that helping people to easily exercise their rights is an important way to enhance transparency and build trust, so we have clear processes for responding to such requests. The majority of requests received are from panellists and are handled by the Panel team who are able to respond well within the required timeframe thanks to bespoke technical solutions.

Our client offer

Core to our business is responsible innovation - incorporating privacy by design and mitigating algorithmic bias. YouGov is in the process of developing a framework for responsible innovation, led by the D&I Task Force. This includes, but is not limited to, identifying opportunities to mitigate biases in data collection processes.

We have guidelines in place to ensure that our survey questions adhere to local laws and are culturally appropriate. We keep abreast of changes in the law and culture norms and our expert researchers support our clients with the design of regionally appropriate research. We aim to maintain independence in our research practices and only decline client work for legal or ethical reasons.

Eliminating bias in data collection Steps which we take to eliminate bias in our product include:

Panel/sample recruitment:

We assess the composition of our panel against publicly available reference data and where we identify shortfalls or gaps, we devise marketing aimed specifically to attract under-represented groups.

These measures are a daily process as we seek to both grow and improve the representative nature of the panel.

Survey questions:

Our surveys are designed to be highly accessible, and our product and technology teams consider ways in which we can make our surveys more accessible to people with specific needs (such as those with a visual impairment). Our researchers work with subject experts to improve our survey language to ensure it is inclusive, for example agreeing market-leading gender inclusive language.

Data analysis and reporting:

With most reporting, our data is carefully weighted to account for full population representation and to iron out any biases that may be present in the sampling. Panel recruitment, followed by sampling and weighting, are all vital to avoiding biases and to representing the market as accurately as possible.

Ethical and legal data handling Our innovation into fully consented collection and use of data led to the development of YouGov Direct. Read more about this product on page 22.

Industry body compliance

We voluntarily comply with the codes of practice and standards of several market research industry bodies worldwide, including ESOMAR, Insights Association and the British Polling Council.

Ethical customers

It is Company policy not to work with customers who are not aligned with our ethical approach to business and our values. This includes, but is not limited to, businesses involved in the manufacture or trade of arms or operating in sanctioned countries.

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Environmental

Carbon footprint

YouGov recognises that our global operations have an environmental impact and we are committed to monitoring and reducing our emissions year-on-year. We are also aware of our reporting obligations under The Companies (Directors' Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018. As such, this year we have upgraded our energy and carbon reporting to meet these new requirements and increase the transparency with which we communicate about our environmental impact to our stakeholders.

2019/20 environmental impact

Energy and carbon action

We are mindful of the environmental impact that our buildings and vehicle use have on the environment. As such, over the course of the last year, we have taken steps to meet our environmental responsibilities through:

carrying out energy audits to comply with the requirements of the Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS), through which we have identified several energy efficiency measures that are under review and will be implemented as practicable;
improving our data collection processes in order to respond to the increasing regulatory requirements around our environmental performance; and
choosing renewable energy: YouGov's UK headquarters in London is now powered by 100% renewable electricity.

2019/20 results

The methodology used to calculate Greenhouse Gas ("GHG") emissions is in accordance with the requirements of the following standards:

World Resources Institute ("WRI") GHG Protocol (revised version);
Defra's Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting requirements (March 2019); and
UK office emissions have been calculated using the Defra 2019 issue of the conversion factor repository.

Following an operational control approach to defining our organisational boundary, our calculated GHG emissions from business activities fall within the reporting period of August 2019 to July 2020.1

YouGov& Report Annual

Carbon output

170 tCO2e

Energy	56%
Travel	44%

This year we have calculated our environmental impact across scope 1,

2 and 3 (selected categories) emissions sources for the UK only. Our emissions on a location basis (using the UK grid emissions intensity) are 170 tCO2e. With 56% (95 tCO2e) of total emissions from energy and 44% (75 tCO2e) as a result of business travel. This equates to an emissions intensity of 0.5 tCO2e per employee, which we will monitor to track performance in our subsequent environmental disclosures.

Emissions and energy use

Table 1: Energy and carbon disclosures for reporting year

		2019/20
	Emissions source	tCO2e
Scope 1	Natural gas	1
Scope 2	Electricity (location based)	87
Scope 2	Electricity (market based)2	26
	Electricity transmission and distribution	7
Scope 3	Employee cars	5
Rail	1

	Business flights	70
Total (location based)	170
Total (market based)	110
Total energy usage (kWh)3	362,854
Normaliser	tCO2e per FTE4	0.53

Due to availability of data from 2019, Q4 data was used as a proxy for 2020 Q4.
Our scope 2 emissions calculated using location-based emissions factors is 87 tCO2e. In line with WRI best practice, our scope 2 market-based emissions for 2019/20 are 26 tCO2e, calculated using supplier specific emission factors.
Energy reporting includes kWh from scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 employee cars only
(as required by the SECR regulation).
Full time equivalent.

2020 Accounts

Chief Financial Officer's Review

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Alex McIntosh

Chief Financial Officer

The Group achieved continued growth in the 12 months to 31 July 2020 whilst executing towards its current long-term strategic growth plan which ends 31 July 2023. The financial year continued to be a year of investment in key areas to support longer term growth.

Total Group revenue in the period rose to £152.4m, compared to £136.5m in the 12 months to 31 July 2020. Growth was 13% on an underlying1 basis since the prior period (but 12% in reported terms due to the planned closure of a large project in the Middle East offset by the depreciation of UK Sterling against the US Dollar and additional revenue generated by acquisitions in the period and prior period).

Adjusted operating margins and organic growth

In line with our stated strategy of a higher proportion of sales coming from higher margin products and services, gross margins increased by 3% points. Adjusted operating margins2 increased to 14.3% despite increased investment in staff costs and increased amortisation from technology and panel investments.

Group operating costs (excluding separately reported items) of £107.2m (2019: £93.8m) increased by 14% in reported terms, and 14% in constant currency terms. Group adjusted operating profit2 (before separately reported items) increased to £21.8m

(18% growth in the period) with strong continued growth in Data Products. The statutory operating profit, after charging other separately reported items amounting to £6.6m (2019: £1.5m credit) relating to acquisition costs £4.5m and an impairment charge relating to our Nordic business of £2.1m, decreased to £15.2m (2019: £20.0m).

Performance by division

YouGov's lines of business fall into three divisions: Data Products, Data Services and Custom Research.

Data Products

Our syndicated data products include Our syndicated data products include YouGov BrandIndex, YouGov Profiles and YouGov SportsIndex. YouGov Plan

Track (the combined BrandIndex and
Profiles proposition) is available in 24 countries (2019: 21). BrandIndex alone

is available in 42 countries, while SportsIndex is available in 38 countries.

The performance of our Data Products division has contributed significantly to our Group revenue and adjusted operating profit2. Revenue from Data Products increased by 24% (21% growth in underlying business1) in the period. The adjusted operating profit2 from Data Products increased by 26% to £18.0m and the operating margin increased by 70 basis points to 35.0%. The improving margin reflects the operational leverage of Data Products which benefit from technology for data collection and product delivery as well as our proprietary data.

Geographically, the US remains the largest Data Products market and grew by 26% in the period (23% from the underlying business1). The UK, Mainland Europe and Asia Pacific also contributed strong revenue growth of 21%, 16% and 22% respectively.

Data Services

Our Data Services division consists of our fast-turnaround research services, including our market-leading YouGov Omnibus (now known as YouGov RealTime in the UK and US).

In the year, revenue from Data Services increased by 2% (4% in underlying terms1 after adjusting for acquisitions, foreign exchange and reallocated revenue from the Custom Research division) to £37.8m. The focus on the US market and further territorial expansion has helped the division expand the revenue base beyond the core UK market. This revenue growth was offset by an increase in allocations of central costs which contributed to a decrease of 6% in the Data Services operating profit to £7.0m and the operating margin declined from 20.0% to 18.4%. The division's operating margin was also impacted by the full-year effect of the planned transferring of lower margin project work from the Custom Research division in the Nordics in FY19.

Overall Data Services revenue growth included an 8% increase in reported revenue in the US (5% increase in underlying terms1), and a 9% decrease in Asia Pacific due to non-recurring election work (4% decrease in underlying terms1). Mainland Europe also grew by 3%. In the UK, where YouGov Omnibus is the market leader, revenue grew by 7%.

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Custom Research

Our Custom Research division includes tailored research projects and tracking studies.

The performance of Custom Research was impacted by the expected closure of operations in Kurdistan resulting in a £2.1m (30%) reduction in revenue in the Middle East. In the UK, revenue increased by 15% to £22.2m and revenue in the US also increased by 11% (9% increase in underlying terms1) to £33.0m.

During the period, the business revenue grew by 8% in reported terms and by 12% in underlying1 terms to £64.6m. However, the adjusted operating profit2 decreased by 4% to £12.6m and the operating margin declined by 240 basis points to 19.5%. This was largely due to the closure of the Kurdistan business and the increase in central cost allocations.

		Year to	Year to	Revenue	Underlying
		business1
Revenue		31 July 2020	31 July 2019	growth	revenue
	£m	£m	%	change %
Data Products		51.3	41.5	24%	21%
Data Services		37.8	37.2	2%	4%
Total Data Products & Services		89.1	78.7	13%	13%
Custom Research		64.6	60.0	8%	12%
Intra-Group revenues		(1.3)	(2.2)	-	-
Group		152.4	136.5	12%	13%
				Operating margin %
	Year to	Year to	Operating

	31 July 2019	Year to	Year to
Adjusted operating profit2	31 July 2020	(restated)3	profit growth
£m	£m	%	31 July 2020	31 July 2019

Data Products	18.0	14.2	26%	35.0%	34.3%
Data Services	7.0	7.5	(6%)	18.4%	20.0%
Total Data Products & Services	25.0	21.7	15%	28.0%	27.6%
Custom Research	12.6	13.1	(4%)	19.5%	21.9%
Central costs	(15.8)	(16.3)	(3%)	-	-
Group	21.8	18.5	18%	14.3%	13.5%

Performance by geography

YouGov's geographic footprint spans the UK, Mainland Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

		Year to	Year to	Revenue	Underlying
		business1
Revenue		31 July 2020	31 July 2019	growth	revenue
	£m	£m	%	change %
UK		47.2	41.2	15%	15%
Americas		64.8	56.4	17%	13%
Mainland Europe		24.3	23.9	2%	3%
Middle East		8.8	10.5	(17%)	20%
Asia Pacific		12.5	11.3	10%	11%
Intra-Group revenues		(5.2)	(6.8)	-	-
Group		152.4	136.5	12%	13%
				Operating margin %
	Year to	Year to	Operating

	31 July 2019	Year to	Year to
Adjusted operating profit1	31 July 2020	(restated)3	profit growth
£m	£m	%	31 July 2020	31 July 2019

UK	15.4	11.7	32%	32.6%	28.5%
Americas	19.0	16.8	13%	29.3%	29.8%
Mainland Europe	2.2	2.9	(24%)	9.1%	12.3%
Middle East	1.9	3.3	(42%)	21.9%	30.9%
Asia Pacific	0.3	0.2	50%	2.2%	1.6%
Central costs	(17.0)	(16.4)	4%	-	-
Group	21.8	18.5	18%	14.3%	13.5%

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Chief Financial Officer's Review continued

Panel development by geography

We continue to invest in our consumer panel to increase our research capabilities, both in new geographies and specialist panels. At 31 July 2020, the total number of registered panellists had increased to 11.5 million, compared to 8.4 million at 31 July 2019, as set out in the table below. During the year, the Group invested in expanding our geographic capability to Austria, Brazil, Switzerland and Turkey.

	Panel size	Panel size	Change
Region	at 31 July 2020	at 31 July 2019
millions	millions	%
UK	1.83	1.63	12%
Americas	4.21	3.17	33%
Mainland Europe	1.92	1.21	59%
Middle East	1.58	1.06	48%
Asia Pacific	1.92	1.30	48%
Total	11.46	8.37	37%

Group financial performance

Amortisation of intangible assets

In the 12 months to 31 July 2020 amortisation charges for intangible assets of £10.8m were £2.0m higher than the previous year. Amortisation of the consumer panel increased by £1.0m to £4.2m reflecting the additional investment made to grow the panel in the past three years. Amortisation of software increased by £1.0m to £6.0m. £4.9m (2019: £4.6m) of the total software development charge related to assets created through the Group's own internal development activities, £0.3m (2019: £0.3m) related to separately acquired assets and £0.9m (2019: £0.1m) was for amortisation on assets acquired through business combinations.

Separately reported items

	Year to	Year to
	31 July 2020	31 July 2019
	£m	£m
Goodwill impairment	2.1	-
Restructuring costs	-	0.2
Acquisition-related costs	4.5	0.4
Fair-value movements	-	(2.1)
Total separately reported items	6.6	(1.5)

Goodwill impairment in the year is in respect of the Nordic business.

Acquisition-related costs in the year comprise: £3.6m of contingent consideration treated as staff costs in respect of the acquisitions of Galaxy Research Pty Ltd, SMG Insights Limited, InConversation Media Limited and Portent.io Limited, a £0.2m increase in contingent consideration payable in respect of the acquisitions of SMG Insight Limited and Portent.io Limited and a £0.7m reduction in the fair value of the acquired SMG Insight Limited net assets.

Restructuring costs in the prior year are residual cost incurred in respect of the restructuring of the Custom Research business in Mainland Europe and the Middle East and the closure of the Reports business.

Acquisition related costs in the prior year comprise: £2.8m of contingent consideration treated as staff costs in respect of the acquisitions of Galaxy Research Pty Ltd, InConversation Media Limited and Portent.io Limited and £0.8m of transaction costs in respect of the acquisitions made in the year, £0.2m of which is contingent less a reduction in expected SMG contingent consideration of £3.2m.

Fair value gains in the prior year comprise: a £1.9m increase in the fair value assessment of the Group's 20% shareholding in SMG Insight Limited prior to acquisition and a bargain purchase gain, net of a fair value loss, in respect of the acquisition of Portent.io Limited of £0.2m.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Analysis of operating profit and earnings per share

Adjusted profit before tax2 of £25.7m was an increase of £5.1m (25%) on the comparable result of £20.6m for the 12 months to 31 July 2019. The adjusted tax rate2 reduced to 24% from 26% in the prior year. Statutory profit before tax of £15.2m was reported compared to £19.4m in the year ended 31 July 2019, a decrease of 22%.

During the period adjusted earnings per share2 grew by 21% from 15.0p to 18.1p and statutory earnings per share decreased by 36% from 14.1p to 9.0p.

	31 July 2020	31 July 2019
	(restated)3
	£m	£m
Adjusted operating profit2	21.8	18.5
Share-based payments	2.8	2.4
Social taxes payable on share-based payments	0.9	0.2
Imputed interest	0.1	0.2
Net finance expense	-	(0.6)
Share of post-tax profit in associates	-	(0.1)
Adjusted profit before tax2	25.7	20.6
Adjusted taxation2	(6.5)	(5.4)
Adjusted profit after tax2	19.1	15.2
Adjusted earnings per share (pence)2	18.1p	15.0p

Cash flow, capital expenditure and technology investment

The Group generated £38.7m (2019: £38.4m) in cash from operations (before paying interest and tax) including a £0.2m

(2019: £6.0m) net working capital inflow; the cash conversion rate (percentage of adjusted EBITDA2 converted to cash) decreased from 121% to 104% of adjusted EBITDA2.

The Group invested £8.0m (2019: £4.8m) in the continuing development of our technology platform and increased the

investment in panel recruitment to £8.9m (2019: £4.0m) for the year to support continued global expansion. The geographic footprint of our panel was broadened as new panels were established in Austria, Brazil, Switzerland and Turkey and investments were made to further strengthen our panels in Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Taiwan. Our investment in technology continued across three main areas: websites and mobile applications £1.1m, survey systems £3.8m, and £3.1m on our Crunch data analytics tool. £0.7m (2019: £0.7m) was also invested on separately-acquired software tools. In addition £1.1m (2019: £2.7m) was spent on the purchase of property, plant and equipment, resulting in a total investment in fixed assets of £18.7m (2019: £12.2m).

Total expenditure on intangible assets and property, plant and equipment is shown below:

	31 July 2020	31 July 2019
	£m	£m
Internally generated software	8.0	4.8
Panel recruitment	8.9	4.0
Other intangible assets	0.7	0.7
Total expenditure on intangible assets	17.6	9.5
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	1.1	2.7
Total capital expenditure	18.7	12.2

Other cash outflows included £7.5m (2019: £4.5m) in settlement of deferred consideration amounts due in respect of the

acquisitions of SMG Insight and Galaxy Research and taxation payments of £3.1m (2019: £4.5m).

Net expenditure on financing activities of £9.7m (2019: 9.7m) included the dividend payment of £4.3m (2019: £3.2m), the

purchase of treasury shares for £2.4m (2019: £3.7m) and lease payments of £3.1m (2019: £2.8m).

Net cash balances at the year-end decreased by £2.6m to £35.3m. Net cash outflow in the year was £0.3m (2019: £5.2m inflow)

and currency fluctuations in the year resulted in an exchange loss of £2.4m (2019: £2.1m gain).

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Chief Financial Officer's Review continued

Currency

The Group's results were affected by the net depreciation of UK Sterling as its average exchange rate was 2% lower against the US Dollar in this period than in the 12 months to 31 July 2019. Movement against the Euro was effectively flat for the period. The net impact of foreign exchange on the Group's adjusted operating profit growth2 was an increase of £0.3m compared to calculation in constant currency terms.

Balance sheet

As at 31 July 2020, total shareholder's funds increased from £108.0m to £110.0m. Net assets increased from £107.4m to £109.3m, with a minority interest of £0.7m accounting for the difference. Net current assets decreased from £21.2m to £17.4m. Current assets decreased by £2.3m to £70.3m, mainly due to a £2.6m reduction in cash balances, with debtor days increasing from 47 to 48. Current liabilities increased by £1.4m to £52.8m, mainly due to an increase in provisions by £1.8m and tax liabilities by £0.9m offset by a £1.6m reduction in trade and other payables, with creditor days decreasing from 24 days to 19 days at

31 July 2020. Non-current liabilities decreased by £6.1m to £16.2m with a reduction of £4.3m of contingent consideration payable in respect of acquisitions.

Proposed dividend

The Board is recommending the payment of a final dividend of 5.0 pence per share for the year ended 31 July 2020. If shareholders approve this dividend at the AGM (scheduled for 10 December 2020), it will be paid on Monday 14 December 2020 to all shareholders who were on the Register of Members at close of business on Friday 4 December 2020.

Alex McIntosh

Chief Financial Officer

15 October 2020

Defined as growth in business excluding impact of current and prior period acquisitions and business closures, and movement in exchange rates.

Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on the facing page.
3 Prior year comparatives have been restated on the adoption of IFRS 16.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Explanation of non-IFRS measures

Financial measure	How we define it			Why we use it
Separately reported items	Items that in the Directors' judgement are one-off or need to be	Provides a more comparable
	disclosed separately by virtue of their size or incidence		basis to assess the year-to-
Adjusted operating profit	Operating profit excluding separately reported items		year operational business
					performance
Adjusted operating profit	Adjusted operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenue

margin
Adjusted EBITDA	Adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortisation
Adjusted profit before tax	Profit before tax before share-based payment charges, social
	taxes on share based payments, imputed interest and separately
	reported items
Adjusted taxation	Taxation due on the adjusted profit before tax, thus excluding the tax	Provides a more comparable
	effect of amortisation and exceptional items			basis to assess the underlying
			tax rate
Adjusted tax rate	Adjusted taxation expressed as a percentage of adjusted profit
	before tax
Adjusted profit after tax	Adjusted profit before tax less adjusted taxation			Facilitates performance
			evaluation, individually and
Adjusted profit after tax	Adjusted profit after tax less profit attributable to non-controlling interests
attributable to owners of					relative to other companies
the parent
Adjusted earnings per share	Adjusted profit after tax attributable to owners of the parent divided
	by the weighted average number of shares. Adjusted diluted earnings
	per share includes the impact of share options
Constant currency revenue	Current year revenue change compared to prior year revenue in local	Shows the underlying revenue
change	currency translated at the current year average exchange rates	change by eliminating the
					impact of foreign exchange
					rate movements
Cash conversion	The ratio of cash generated from operations to adjusted		Indicates the extent to which
	operating profit			the business generates cash
					from adjusted operating profits

Reconciliation of non-IFRS measures
				Year to
			Year to		Change
Adjusted operating profit1 reconciliation		31 July 2020	31 July 2019
		£m	£m	%
Statutory operating profit			15.2		20.0	(24%)
Separately reported items			6.6		(1.5)	N/A
Adjusted operating profit			21.8		18.5	18%
				Year to
			Year to		Change
Adjusted EBITDA1 reconciliation		31 July 2020	31 July 2019
		£m	£m	%
Adjusted operating profit			21.8		18.5	18%
Depreciation			4.5		4.4	2%
Amortisation			10.8		8.8	22%
Adjusted EBITDA			37.1		31.7	17%

1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures above.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Principal risks

Our approach to risk management We believe that the understanding and effective management of risk are key to the long-termsuccess of the Company. Over the past three years our risk management system has matured, developing over time to better serve the needs of a fast-growingbusiness. Our Group Risk Management Policy and Procedure (the "Risk Policy") was reviewed during the year. The Risk Policy enables us to:

foster a high standard of accountability at all levels of the business;
enable effective decision-making through understanding of risk exposures; and
safeguard our assets.

We acknowledge that management of risks is rarely static - building a management system that remains appropriate and embedding risk management awareness across all business operations is an ongoing process. We expect we will continually work to improve our processes in coming years.

Oversight

The Audit & Risk Committee (the "Committee"), led by its Chair, has primary responsibility for oversight and scrutiny of risk management and reports to the Board on a regular basis. The Committee's Terms of Reference reflect the focus on risk management. The output from the Group Risk Management Policy and Procedure in 2019/20 has fed into the Board's identification of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company at 31 July 2020.

The Committee monitors the mitigating actions and controls put in place by risk owners (the relevant senior leader). For more information on the work on the Committee, see page 74.

Our approach to identifying the principal risks

The principal risks and uncertainties identified in this report are those categories of risk which are considered by the Board to be material to the development, performance, position and/or prospects of the Company. While the risk categories have not materially changed since last reported, the risk factors may have evolved, and the categorisation may have changed.

In determining the principal risks, the Committee assesses the top net risks once existing controls are taken into consideration. The top net risks are consolidated into the principal risks which are reported below. When viewing the principal risks, note:

while the risks have been categorised, some controls may cross categories;
some elements of risks may appear in more than one category; and
principal risks are presented in alphabetical order by category, not by risk score.

The Committee has determined that this is the most appropriate presentation of the principal risks.

These are not the only risks facing the business but are those which are considered to have a material impact on the business, and therefore are the focus of discussion at the highest levels of the Company.

COVID-19 and the principal risks Throughout the risk review, we have taken the impact of COVID-19into consideration. We acknowledge that COVID-19and the resulting lockdowns globally have created opportunity (e.g. the COVID-19products) as well as disruption (e.g. managing business response and office closures).

In assessing the principal risks, we have taken into consideration the Financial Reporting Council Lab's report on going concern and risk reporting considering uncertainty created by COVID-19.

We have determined that the principal risk posed by COVID-19 was interruption to business

as usual. The business has demonstrated its resilience and ability to continue to operate effectively, despite closure of all our offices. We have continued to operate efficiently throughout lockdowns and have had adequate resource to manage safe office reopening. For more information on our response to COVID-19, see pages 39 and 50.

Risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns are new risk factors within the principal risks, and we have highlighted where these have been identified. We do not believe that the risks posed by the pandemic to our business equate a principal risk of their own.

Management and the Audit & Risk Committee will keep the risks posed by COVID-19 under review.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Our summary of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the business

at 31 July 2020

Risk & status

Description

Mitigation

Failure to compete with our competitors affects our ability to meet our strategy due to:

loss of business to competitors (e.g. copycat products, inadequate marketing, inadequate key account management);
becoming outdated (e.g. failure to keep up with developments in technology such as blockchain and artificial intelligence or an inability to move agilely to meet client demands); and/or
penalties for anti-competitive practices.

Risks faced from cyber threats are broad and, in many cases, not exclusively targeted at YouGov.

For the purpose of the principal risks, the key risk areas relevant to the Company have been identified as:

inadequacy of IT infrastructure to support the business, including an inability to restore business promptly after an outage;
misuse of our information systems; and
IT systems failure impacts upon business operations.

We differentiate ourselves from our competitors: the size of our panel and the wealth of historic data are key assets which are difficult for competitors to replicate.

We are focused on innovation, to keep our products relevant and at the cutting edge of our industry and technology.

Our Executive Management monitors market trends, new product developments and services.

Advice on competition law provided by General Counsel or external legal advisors where required.

Company has Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans in place.

There is robust budget planning in place for IT resources, involving key stakeholders from across the business.

Breach Response Policy and dedicated team (including Global Head of IT, Global Panel Director, Group Head of Governance, Group Data Protection Officer and Group Information Security Manager) respond to any breaches.

Information Security Committee meets regularly to oversee projects and actions arising around the business, with participation from the COO, Senior Management and Governance team.

Intrusion detection systems in place and regular penetration testing.

IT security practices are externally validated and since 2018/19 we have held ISO 27001 certification in respect of our information management system for client confidential information.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

No change

Increased risk

Decreased risk

Our summary of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the business

at 31 July 2020 continued

Risk & status

Description

Mitigation

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Occurrence of a data breach incident due to deliberate intrusion, accidental data leak, or deliberate de-anonymisation of data.

Non-compliance with data protection or privacy legislation, such as EU GDPR, leading to significant penalties and/or reputation damage.

Largest geopolitical risk facing the business now is the consequence of the UK leaving the European Union ("Brexit") causing uncertainty for the economic outlook for businesses operating in the UK.

Failure of our internal controls to:

prevent unauthorised access to our systems and/or infrastructure (e.g. by ex-employees, ex- contractors);
prevent unauthorised use of assets (such as intellectual property); and
integrate newly acquired companies into YouGov systems and infrastructure.

Failure to maintain a quality, engaged panel which is diverse and representative.

Investment in technology and resource to manage these risks, led by the Group Data Protection Officer and Group Information Security Manager.

Management focus on compliance across the Group's data handling activities. The Board receives updates at each meeting.

Data Privacy Committee and Information Security Committee meet regularly throughout the year, with participation from the COO and senior leadership stakeholders.

Privacy and security training are compulsory for all employees across the Group, and completion is monitored.

Policies on privacy and security are reviewed and updated regularly.

Dedicated breach response team in place to respond to any breaches.

While specific mitigation is not possible prior to the terms of an exit from the EU being agreed, the Board and Governance team monitor the political, industry and regulatory changes across the Group in relation to Brexit.

Intercompany data sharing agreement in place for permitting the sharing of data across borders within the YouGov group of companies.

The US remains Group's largest region in terms of revenue and profit. Therefore, the Group expects to be largely unaffected by Brexit.

The Audit & Risk Committee is apprised of activities to review and improve internal controls in its meetings.

Cross-functional teams work together to manage systems access in the case of employees

and contractors.

IT security team is responsible for prevention of access by unknown or unauthorised third parties. Our security systems are externally validated, and we work to continually improve systems as risks evolve.

We hold ISO 27001 certification for our information security management system (see pages 51 and 76), a globally recognised standard.

Our internal controls are subject to external assurance review.

Global Panel Director leads a team dedicated to maintaining the YouGov Global Panel. The Board receives reports on the panel at each Board meeting, including panel capability, acquisition and overall health.

Data Innovation Unit and Panel team work to improve the panellist experience and to monitor panellist fraud attempts.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Risk & status

Description

Mitigation

Failure to comply with legal and regulatory requirements for a listed company with overseas subsidiaries for reasons such as:

lack of knowledge or adequate advice;
lack of understanding of relevant legislation or regulations; or
inability to follow company policy.

Failure to protect the Group's reputation leading to a loss of confidence by our customer base; affects our ability to recruit and retain employees and panellists.

Damage to our reputation could arise from a range of events, for example from our services being of poor quality or the leak of confidential data. Given the general mistrust of the market research and data analytics industry, reputational damage could be difficult to recover from.

The key risks related to strategy are:

Failure to achieve projected growth in line with our annual budget and/or not meeting strategy objectives in line with market expectations.

Failure to identify or execute a successful strategy for the business leading to loss of client base, inadequate resources to provide new products and/or services, and/ or changes in technology resulting in YouGov's offering becoming outdated.

Group activities are subject to scrutiny by the Board, Committees and external auditors.

Management is supported by a team of qualified professionals, external advisors and

in-house legal team.

Executive Directors have received bespoke training on their responsibilities as directors of overseas subsidiaries.

In-house legal function led by General Counsel.

PR advisors actively monitor the corporate press. Executive Management receives media training.

Nominated staff to manage corporate social media relations and nominated spokespersons for media interaction. Investment in both internal and external communications professionals in- house during the year.

Panel team actively monitors panellist feedback by email and surveys.

Marketing actively monitors social media feeds and manages complaints.

The Board regularly assesses progress against the current long-term strategic plan.

Long-term incentive plans link Senior Management remuneration to profit growth (see Remuneration Report on page 77).

Senior Management focus on developing and implementing new strategies, methodologies, technologies, products and services.

Robust planning process in place involving key stakeholders across the business (see Our Stakeholders on page 40).

Regular review of Company performance against market expectations by the Board.

Management meets regularly with the Company's broker to review market expectations and messaging. IR Manager in post during FY20 to handle engagement with investors.

Business has responded robustly to COVID-19 and is reporting no material impact at 31 July 2020.

2020 AccountsYouGov& Report Annual

discussion on the financial risks facing the Group, see Note 21 on page 139.

The Strategic Report is approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:

Stephan Shakespeare

Chief Executive Officer

15 October 2020

No change		Increased risk		Decreased risk

Chair's Introduction and Corporate Governance Statement

Roger Parry CBE

Chair

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

In a year that has presented unforeseen challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, our governance framework has responded robustly and with agility.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of YouGov plc (the "Board"), I am pleased to present the YouGov plc Corporate Governance Report for the year ended 31 July 2020.

The Board is committed to delivering high standards of corporate governance

commensurate with the size, stage of growth and nature of the YouGov Group's (the "Group") activities - to its shareholders and other stakeholders including employees, panellists, customers, suppliers and the wider community.

Corporate governance at YouGov YouGov plc (the "Company") has adopted the QCA Corporate Governance Code as its benchmark for good corporate governance practice since 2014. The Board has formally adopted the most recent edition of the Code (the "QCA Code 2018").

As Chair, I have oversight of how our corporate governance processes and procedures meet the requirements of the QCA Code 2018. While we have chosen not to follow the UK Financial Reporting Council (the "FRC") Corporate Governance Code (the "FRC Code") - as we have determined that the QCA Code 2018 is better suited to the size and type of our business - we take into account the principles of the FRC Code.

In addition to its economic impact, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique governance challenges.

In early 2020, we decided to close all offices and to work remotely. By the end of the reporting period, 12 offices had reopened at least partially and we are working towards reopening the remaining offices as and when it is safe to do so.

From March 2020 until the end of the reporting year, all Board and Committee meetings were conducted fully virtually. We value the importance of informal conversations, so we have taken steps to ensure that informal conversations still occurred.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Corporate governance highlights from the year include the following:

Building and launching a new onboarding process for suppliers, including enhanced due diligence checks (see page 47).
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continuity of our governance framework throughout lockdowns (see pages 39 and 50).
External assurance reviews of key processes (see page 71).

Our dedicated Governance team, led by the Company Secretary, supports the Board of Directors to ensure that high standards of corporate governance are maintained.

Board composition

As reported last year, Ben Elliot and Nick Jones retired from the Board on 13 September 2019 and 11 December 2019 respectively. Following Nick's retirement, Rosemary Leith became Senior Independent Director.

The Board consists of three Executive Directors and four Non-Executive Directors. The Non-Executive Directors have a wide range of commercial and academic experience. I believe the performance of the business over recent years is evidence that the Board is well balanced and effective.

There are no immediate plans to make changes to the Board composition.

In 2020, the Company completed its first 20 years of corporate life. In line with our ambitious current five-year plan to 2023, we expect to grow substantially and become even more international. To prepare for this, we will be engaging external consultants to build on our existing human resources plans to ensure we have a robust process in place to proactively manage succession and skill development at Board and Senior Management levels. For more information on the Nomination Committee, see page 73.

Corporate culture

When YouGov was established 20 years ago, it was a pioneer in online market research. A key facet of our corporate culture is that we retain the entrepreneurial spirit which was formed in those early days, but now with the corporate structure appropriate to a company of our size and ambition.

Our values - be fast, be fearless, get it right and trust each other - permeate throughout our activities. Our employees represent these values. As befitting a business in our industry, all opinions are valued and innovation is openly encouraged.

The Board monitors corporate culture through regular interaction with Senior Management and, for the Executive Directors in particular, day-to-day contact with colleagues at all levels throughout the business. Corporate culture continues to be an area of focus for the Board. This year we have made significant investment in the employee experience - taking time to listen to our employees and understand how we can improve. You can read more about how we engaged with employees during the year on page 41.

Stakeholder engagement

In this year's Annual Report we are pleased to have a dedicated section on stakeholder engagement on pages 40 to 43.

YouGov now employs over 1,100 employees globally. On behalf of the Board, and shareholders, I would like to thank all our employees for their dedication to YouGov and their contribution to our ongoing success.

This Corporate Governance Report sets out our approach to governance, provides further information on

the operation of the Board and its Committees, and explains how the Group complies with the QCA Code 2018.

Notice of AGM

Our 2020 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") will be held on 10 December 2020.
Due to continued social distancing restrictions, our
AGM will be closed this year.
You can learn more in our
Notice of AGM on page 166.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Roger Parry

Chair

15 October 2020

Board of Directors

	Roger Parry CBE
	N

	Non-Executive Chair
		Appointed Non-Executive Chair in
		January 2007
		Roger is Chair of Oxford Metrics and a Non-Executive
	Director of Uber UK. Roger was previously Chair of Future
	Publishing, Johnston Press and Shakespeare's Globe Trust;
	a consultant with McKinsey & Co; CEO of More Group, and
2020	CEO of Clear Channel International. Roger was educated at
the universities of Oxford and Bristol. He is a Visiting Fellow
Accounts&ReportAnnual	of Oxford University. He was awarded the CBE in 2014. He
is the author of five books including The Ascent of Media.

YouGov

Stephan Shakespeare

Chief Executive Officer

Founded YouGov in March 2000

One of the pioneers of internet research, Stephan has been the driving force behind YouGov's innovation- led strategy. He was Chair of the Data Strategy Board for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2012 to 2013 and led the Shakespeare Review of Public Sector Information. He is a commissioner for the Social Metrics Commission, an independent charity dedicated to helping UK policy makers and the public understand and take action to tackle poverty. Stephan has an MA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University.

Alex McIntosh

Chief Financial Officer

Appointed Executive Director in

December 2017

Alex has been with YouGov since 2007. He initially joined YouGov as Corporate Finance Manager focusing on planning, budgeting and corporate development. He became Chief Strategy Officer in 2011 and played a leading role in the development of YouGov's strategic plans and data product developments. Alex also held the role of Chief Executive Officer of the UK business from 2015 to 2016. He previously worked in corporate finance advising a wide range of companies on their growth plans and first worked with YouGov in 2005 while at Grant Thornton when he assisted with the Group's initial public offering on AIM. Alex holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting, an MSc in Finance, and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Sundip Chahal

Chief Operating Officer

Appointed Executive Director in

December 2017

Sundip has been with YouGov since 2005 and has been the Group's Chief Operating Officer since 2014. He initially joined the UK business as BrandIndex Sales Director, becoming Managing Director of Data Products in 2008. In 2009, he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of YouGov's MENA business and relocated to Dubai to oversee the expansion of YouGov's core online services across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. In 2010,

he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of YouGov MENA. Prior to joining YouGov, Sundip gained experience of the market research industry with Ipsos Mori and Research International.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Ashley Martin	A R N

Non-Executive Director

Appointed Non-Executive Director in

September 2018

Ashley is Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit

Risk Committee at Zegona Communications plc. Until
2018, he served for nine years as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Rightmove plc. Ashley has held main board executive roles at a number high growth entrepreneurial businesses mainly in the technology, media and communications sector including Tempus Group plc, Rok plc and The Engine Group. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Andrea Newman	R N

Non-Executive Director

Appointed Non-Executive Director in

December 2017

Andrea is the Global Head of Brand at HSBC Holdings plc. In this role, Andrea is responsible for all marketing, including the management and marketing of the HSBC brand globally. She has been at HSBC for 22 years and during that time has lived and worked in the US and Asia Pacific in addition to the UK. During her tenure with HSBC she has overseen the development of the company's brand from a federation of over 50 brands to one unified brand, elevating HSBC's place as one of the most globally recognised financial services brands.

Rosemary Leith R A N

Non-Executive Director and

Senior Independent Director

Appointed Non-Executive Director in

February 2015

Rosemary is Non-Executive Director of HSBC UK Bank plc and a member of the bank's Risk Committee. She is co-founding Director of the World Wide Web Foundation and Trustee of the National Gallery (London), where she is Chair of the Digital Advisory Board and member of the Remuneration Committee. She is a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Rosemary works as an advisor and investor in a number of technology businesses and academic institutions in Europe and North America including Motive Partners (a Fintech fund based in New York), Glasswing Ventures (Boston) and Queen's University School of Business (Canada). She has been the Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Future of Internet Security. Rosemary holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) in Finance and Accounting from Queen's University, Canada.

Directors who retired during the year

Ben Elliot

Non-Executive Director (August 2010 to September 2019)

Audit & Risk Committee member (January 2019 to September 2019) Nomination Committee member (August 2010 to September 2019)

Nick Jones

Non-Executive Director (June 2009 to December 2019) Senior Independent Director (May 2015 to December 2019) Nomination Committee member (June 2009 to December 2019)

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

	Key
	Chair of Committee	R	Remuneration Committee member
A Audit & Risk Committee member	N	Nomination Committee member

Corporate Governance Report

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Board composition matrix (as at 31 July 2020)1

Board	Board
gender
composition
diversity

Female	29%
Male	71%

Directors

Board	Board
ethnicity
tenure
diversity

5	29%	British

		Indian	14%

1 Percentages based on a Board comprising seven Directors.

Directors' independence

The Board periodically reviews its composition and succession planning framework to ensure that appointments create an appropriate mix of skills and experience, and a level of diversity and independence that supports the Group's objectives for business growth.

The key factors considered by the Board when determining a Director's independence are:

their other commitments;
their tenure; and
the personal qualities they demonstrate in the boardroom.

Weight is given to how they exercise their judgement, and to the level of engagement and challenge that they provide in Board and Committee discussions. Each of the Non-Executive Directors, including the Non-Executive Chair, is considered by the Board to be independent. This is reviewed annually by the Board. Principle 5 of the QCA Code 2018 confirms that independence is a Board judgement.

Roger Parry reached 13 years' tenure on the Board in 2020. He was deemed to be independent upon appointment. After evaluation, the Board has determined that Roger remains independent in character and judgement in his role as Non-Executive Director and as Chair of the Board.

Statement of Compliance YouGov plc has adopted the QCA Code 2018. We are compliant with the principles of the Code. Disclosures required by the QCA Code 2018 have been made both in this Annual Report and on our website corporate.yougov.com.

The Board

Board composition

At 31 July 2020, the Board consisted of three Executive Directors and four Non-Executive Directors, including a Non-Executive Chair. There were changes to the composition of the Board during the year.

Ben Elliot retired from the Board on 13 September 2019 following nine years' tenure as a Non-Executive Director and Nick Jones retired as Senior Independent Director on 11 December 2019. Nick Jones exceeded nine years' tenure in 2018 and stayed on the Board to enable a smooth transition of his roles as Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. Rosemary Leith was appointed as Senior Independent Director on

11 December 2019.

There have been no changes to the Executive Directors during the reporting year.

The names of the Directors during the year, their biographies and their respective responsibilities are shown on pages 66 and 67.

Nick Jones reached ten years' tenure on the Board in 2019. After evaluation, the Board determined that Nick remained independent in character and judgement in his roles prior to his retirement on 11 December 2019.

For more information on succession planning, see the report of the Nomination Committee on page 73.

Directors' conflicts of interest

The Company has procedures in place to monitor and manage Directors' conflicts of interest. The Directors are required to declare their interests and connected persons on an annual basis (and additionally when there is change) and the Company Secretary maintains a register of said interests.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

The Company's Articles of Association permit the Board to authorise declared conflicts of interest; and Directors may excuse themselves from decisions when they are concerned about a conflict or potential conflict.

Save as disclosed, no Director has or has had any interest in any transaction which is or was unusual in its nature or conditions or which is or was significant in relation to the business of the Company and which was effected

by the Company either: (i) during the current or immediately preceding financial year; or (ii) during any earlier

All Directors are required to submit themselves for re-election at each AGM. This is a requirement of the Articles of Association adopted on 11 December 2019.

Board Effectiveness Evaluation Each year, the Board commissions an evaluation of its effectiveness and considers whether that evaluation should be internally or externally facilitated.

In 2019/20, it was determined that an in-house effectiveness evaluation was appropriate.

The in-house effectiveness evaluation was facilitated by the Corporate Secretariat in compliance with the Board effectiveness evaluation process approved by the Board in 2018, which is illustrated below.

Anonymised results from the evaluation were presented to the full Board and an action plan determined. No areas of material concern were identified and

it was confirmed that the Board was operating effectively.

financial year and which remains in any aspect outstanding or unperformed.

Related parties

The process outlined above in relation to conflicts of interests, together with the commissioning of regular share register analysis, enables the Board to monitor the Group's related parties so that any related party transactions may be quickly identified and the subsequent compliance obligations ensured.

Board operation

The Board operates both formally, through Board and Committee meetings, and informally, through regular contact among Directors.

The Board receives regular information from management on the Group's performance. Appropriate information relating to the agenda for formal Board and Committee meetings is provided in advance of those meetings. For an overview of the Board Committees and their remits see page 72 and

for information on the work of the Committees during the year see pages 73 to 78.

All Directors are expected to commit sufficient time to their roles as required. As a minimum, Non-Executive Directors commit one day per month and the Chair of the Board commits further time as required to appropriately fulfil his role.

All Directors bring their experience to the Board. Directors are encouraged to keep their skillset up to date and the Company provides support in this regard where needed. For example, the Company provides access

to external advisors or externally facilitated courses where appropriate. In 2020, this included Remuneration Committee training facilitated by Aon. For an overview of the skills held by the Board members, see page 70.

Board effectiveness evaluation process

Questionnaires

A comprehensive questionnaire set are issued to all Board members for completion

One-on-one discussions

A one-to-one discussion with facilitator covering the questionnaire answers and any additional commentary

Evaluation

Results are collated and analysed by the facilitator

Action plan

Anonymised results are presented to the full Board and an action plan for the year ahead is agreed

With a view to continually improving the Board's effectiveness, recommendations were presented to the Board for actions to be undertaken during the next twelve months. The following actions were completed by the end of the reporting year:

Area	Recommendation

Consider ongoing education	Bespoke Remuneration Committee
for Non-Executive Directors	training provided by Aon and shared
	with whole Committee.

Global entity governance training	Process developed to provide country
for subsidiary directors when	specific guidance to directors upon
appointed in new jurisdictions	appointment in new jurisdictions.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Corporate Governance Report continued

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Communicating with shareholders The Executive Directors meet regularly with institutional shareholders to discuss the Group's performance and future prospects, as do the Non-ExecutiveDirectors from time to time. At these meetings, the views of institutional shareholders are canvassed and subsequently reported back to the

full Board. The AGM is available as a forum for communication with private shareholders. Chairs of each Committee attend the AGM to address any queries about their Committee's performance during the year. Due to the ongoing social distancing requirements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's AGM will be a closed meeting. Shareholders will be offered the opportunity to pose questions to the Board ahead of the meeting.

In October 2019, we launched a new corporate website to facilitate improved engagement with our stakeholders, including our shareholders. It was subsequently nominated by the IR Magazine Awards Europe 2020 in the "Best Investor Relations Website - Small Cap" category. The website can be found at corporate.yougov.com.

During the year we invested in establishing a dedicated investor relations function. Our Investor Relations Manager is the primary point of contact for shareholders and can be reached at investor.relations@yougov.com.

For details on the Company's approach to shareholder engagement, see the stakeholder engagement section on pages 40 to 43 and ESG report on pages 44 to 53.

Self-declared Board skills matrix (as at 31 July 2020)

Area		Total

International business	7/7

C-Suite level experience	6/7

Strategy development	6/7

High-growth business	5/7

PLC expertise		5/7

Mergers & acquisitions	4/7

Accounting/finance	4/7

Change management	3/7

Corporate governance	3/7

Marketing		3/7

Media		3/7

Data analytics		2/7

Operations		2/7

Public relations		2/7

Research		2/7

Risk management	2/7

Technology		2/7

		Key	Non-Executive Directors	Executive Directors

Investor relations activities during the year
October		December	March
Full-year results and	Annual General Meeting	Half-year results and
analyst briefing			analyst briefing
July	October		March
Trading update	Post-results roadshow	Post-results roadshow
	for major shareholders	for major shareholders
70

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Board meeting attendance

There were eight Board meetings held during the year (seven planned and one at short notice) at which attendance was as follows:

Director	Capacity	No. meetings attended

Stephan Shakespeare	Executive Director	8/8
Alex McIntosh	Executive Director	8/8
Sundip Chahal	Executive Director	7/8
Roger Parry	Non-Executive Director	8/8
Andrea Newman	Non-Executive Director	7/8
Rosemary Leith	Non-Executive Director	7/8
Ashley Martin	Non-Executive Director	7/8
Ben Elliot¹	Non-Executive Director	0/0
Nick Jones²	Non-Executive Director	3/3

There were no Board meetings held during the reporting period prior to Ben Elliot's retirement in September 2019.
Nick Jones attended three of a possible three Board meetings prior to his retirement in December 2019.

Matters reserved for the Board High-leveldecisions on matters such as Group strategy, financial performance and reporting, dividends, risk management, major capital expenditure, acquisitions and disposals are reserved for the Board or Board Committees. For information on the areas of responsibility of the Committees, see pages 72 to 76.

Review of key controls and procedures The Board maintains full control and direction over appropriate strategic, financial, organisational and compliance issues and has put in place an organisational structure with defined lines of responsibility and delegation of authority.

The Board, prior to approval being given, reviews the annual budget and forecasts. This includes the identification and assessment of the business risks inherent in the Group as well as in the data analytics, market research and media sectors, along with associated financial risks.

The system of internal controls is designed to manage, rather than eliminate, the risk of failure to achieve business objectives, in addition to providing reasonable but not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. These include controls in relation to the financial reporting process and the preparation of consolidated accounts. These procedures have been in place during the financial year up to the

date of approval of the Annual Report. This process is regularly reviewed by the Board and is in accordance with FRC guidance. The Audit & Risk Committee receives a report from management on

the effectiveness of internal controls each year. For more information on the Committee's activities with regard to internal controls, including the external assurance work undertaken during the year, see pages 74 to 76.

The key procedures include:

a detailed budgeting programme with an annual budget approved by the Board;
regular review by the Board of actual results compared with budget
and forecasts;
regular reviews by the Board of year- end forecasts;
establishment of procedures for acquisitions, capital expenditure and expenditure incurred in the ordinary course of business;
detailed budgeting and monitoring of costs incurred on the development of new products;
reporting to, and review by, the Board of changes in legislation and practices within the sector and accounting and legal developments pertinent to the Group;
appointing experienced and suitably qualified staff to take responsibility for key business functions to ensure maintenance of high standards
of performance;
appraisal and approval of proposed acquisitions by the Board; and
external assurance reviews of key risk areas.

Advisors

All Directors have access to the Group's selected advisors and can obtain independent professional advice at the Group's own expense in performance of their duties as Directors. Board Committees are authorised to obtain, at the Group's expense, professional advice on any matter within their Terms of Reference. The Audit & Risk Committee works with PwC (the Company's external auditors) and KPMG (assurance consultants). The Company Secretary is supported on company secretarial matters by KPMG (global entity management), Avieco (environmental reporting consultants), Numis (NOMAD) and Neville Registrars (registrar). During the year, the Remuneration Committee was supported by Aon (remuneration consultants).

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Corporate Governance Report continued

Accounts 2020

Review of key Company policies YouGov is committed to conducting our business with honesty and integrity. We expect all staff to maintain high standards. Our governance framework is underpinned by several key Company policies. These policies are applicable globally, reviewed annually and submitted for Board approval at least once each year. In each case, failure to comply with a Company policy may be subject to disciplinary action.

The key Company policies are:

Group Anti-Bribery Policy Compliant with the UK Bribery Act 2020, this policy sets out the measures in place to eliminate bribery and/or corrupt activities from our companies. The policy includes a procedure for notifying gifts and hospitality along with guidance for staff on what constitutes inappropriate gifting/hospitality.

Group Anti-Facilitation of Tax

Evasion Policy

Compliant with the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017, the policy sets out the Company's zero tolerance approach to tax evasion and details how staff members are expected to act to ensure no tax evasion takes place. The policy also contains guidance on how to recognise tax evasion and how to approach tackling it.

Group Securities Dealing Policy and Group Restricted Persons' Dealing Code Our dealing policies outline how we expect staff to transact in the dealing of YouGov securities in order to ensure that they do not misuse, or put themselves at risk of suspicion of misusing, information about the Company that is not

public. Our Group Restricted Persons' Dealing Code applies to Directors, persons discharging management responsibilities ("PDMRs") and those staff members who regularly have access to insider information.

Group Risk Management Policy

and Procedure

In order to ensure an effective review of corporate risks, the Group Risk Management Policy and Procedure outlines the process to be followed each year in order to create an accurate register of the risks facing the business. This policy also outlines the approach to be taken when creating the principal risks for disclosure in the Annual Report (see page 60).

Group Whistleblowing Policy

Taking into account the Whistleblowing Arrangements Code of Practice issued by the British Standards Institute and Protect (the whistleblowing charity), the policy enables staff, and those who we work with, to raise concerns about illegal or unethical conduct in the business. Measures are outlined which ensure that confidentiality will be respected, provide guidance on how staff can raise a concern and provide reassurance that concerns can be raised without fear of reprisal.

YouGov Annual Report &

Board Committees

The Board has delegated powers to Board Committees who operate under Terms of Reference reviewed and approved by the Board on an annual basis.

In addition to the Board Committees, there are management-level committees for specific subject areas - such as Data Privacy and Information Security - on which the Executive Directors sit.

	Board of Directors
Executive	Non-Executive
Directors	Directors

Executive

Committees

Remuneration	Audit & Risk	Nomination
Committee	Committee	Committee
Board Committee comprises three	Board Committee comprises two	Board Committee comprises all
Independent Non-Executive Directors	Independent Non-Executive Directors	Independent Non-Executive Directors
-	-	-
Responsible for overseeing the	Responsible for overseeing financial	Recommends changes to the Board
remuneration of Executive Management,	reporting, risk management and internal	composition, oversees succession
Senior Management and Group-wide	control framework, compliance, and	planning for the Board and Senior
remuneration policies	external and internal audit	Management, and related talent policies.
Read more	Read more	Read more
see page 77	see page 74	see page 73

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Nomination Committee Report

Roger Parry CBE

Chair, Nomination Committee

Main areas of responsibility:

Succession planning for Board and Committee roles
Composition of Board and Board Committees
Effectiveness of Directors

Members

Our Nomination Committee comprises entirely Non-Executive Directors:

Committee	Role	Meetings
members	attended

Roger Parry1	Chair	1/1
Rosemary Leith	Member	1/1
Ashley Martin	Member	1/1
Andrea Newman	Member	1/1
Ben Elliot2	Member	0/0
Nick Jones3	Member	0/0

Roger Parry chairs the Committee unless the matter at hand is the succession
to the Chair, in which case the Senior Independent Director chairs the meeting.
Ben Elliot was a member of the Committee until he retired from the Board on 13 September 2019.
Nick Jones was a member of the Committee until he retired from the Board on 11 December 2019.

At the invitation of the Chair, the following Executive Directors attended meetings during the year as guests:

Stephan Shakespeare	1/1
Alex McIntosh	1/1
Sundip Chahal	1/1

Dear shareholder

I am pleased to present to you the report of the Nomination Committee (the "Committee") for the year ended 31 July 2020.

Areas of responsibility

The Committee is responsible for:

identifying the talent, skills and experience required for the next stage in the Group's development;
keeping close watch on succession planning and possible internal candidates for future Board roles; and
assisting the Board Chair (or, where appropriate, the Senior Independent Director), in taking steps to remove any underperforming Director.

In fulfilling its role, the Committee considers the outcome of any board effectiveness evaluations.

Membership and attendance at meetings

The Nomination Committee now comprises the Board's Non-Executive Directors. I am Chair of the Committee, except when the Committee is dealing with the matter of succession to the Board Chair; on these occasions, the Senior Independent Director fulfils the role of Committee Chair.

Executive members of the Board may attend meetings at the invitation of the Committee Chair.

The Company Secretary acts as Secretary to the Committee.

Terms of Reference

The Committee operates under Terms of Reference agreed by the Board, which were reviewed in December 2019, a copy of which can be found on our corporate website (corporate.yougov. com/governance).

Activities during the year Activities during the year included:

Succession planning: During the year, the Committee met to consider succession plans for the Board, the Chair and CEO roles in particular. Succession plans for all Board roles take into consideration the outcome of the annual Board Effectiveness Evaluation Process.

A well balanced Board is key to good governance and the Committee ensures that the requisite balance of skills, experience and backgrounds are represented.

Board Effectiveness Evaluation: This year's board effectiveness evaluation was supported by an online portal, providing additional security and enhanced reporting capabilities. In addition to the main evaluation, the Directors were asked to self-assesstheir expertise for the creation of a skills matrix for the Board shown on page 70. You can read more about the effectiveness evaluation process on page 69.
Senior Independent Director: Nick Jones retired as Senior Independent Director on
11 December 2019. In considering an appropriate successor, the Committee considered the length of service of each of the Non- Executive Directors as well as their experience outside of the Company. Rosemary Leith, being a highly experienced Director, was confirmed to be the appropriate successor and assumed the role on 11 December 2019.

There will be an opportunity for you to ask me questions about the work of the Committee as part of our 2020 AGM procedure.

Roger Parry CBE

Chair

Nomination Committee

15 October 2020

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Audit & Risk Committee Report

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Ashley Martin

Chair, Audit & Risk Committee

Main areas of responsibility:

Accounting and Group financial reporting
Relationship with the external auditors
Systems of internal control and risk management

Members

Our Audit & Risk Committee comprises entirely Non- Executive Directors:

Committee	Role	Meetings
members	attended

Ashley Martin	Chair	4/4
Rosemary Leith	Member	4/4
Ben Elliot1	Member	0/0

1 There were no Committee meetings held during the reporting period prior to Ben Elliot's retirement on 13 September 2019.

At the invitation of the Chair, the following Executive Directors attended meetings during the year as guests:

Alex McIntosh	4/4
Sundip Chahal	2/2

Dear shareholder

I am pleased to present to you the report of the Audit & Risk Committee (the "Committee") for the year ended 31 July 2020.

Areas of responsibility

The Committee is a key part of the governance framework to which the Board has delegated oversight of the following matters:

Accounting and financial reporting

ensuring the financial performance of the Group is properly monitored and reported; and
reviewing formal announcements relating to financial performance.

Relationship with external auditors

reviewing their independence;
agreeing audit strategy and assessing the effectiveness of the external audit process;
reviewing reports from the external auditors and management relating to the financial statements and internal control systems; and
making recommendations to the Board in respect of the external auditors' appointment and remuneration.

Systems of internal control and risk management

reviewing effectiveness of YouGov's internal control processes;
reviewing the output from the bi- annual risk management process and ensuring mitigating actions are implemented; and
overseeing the relationship with the outsourced provider of assurance services.

The Committee reports to the Board on any matters in respect of which it considers that action or improvement is needed and makes recommendations as to the steps to be taken. After each meeting the Chair reports to the Board on the matters discussed at the meeting.

We have formalised appointment of an external assurance provider following

successful programme of assurance projects.

Membership and attendance at meetings

Ben Elliot retired from the Committee on 13 September 2019. Ashley Martin was Chair of the Committee for the full year. The Board is satisfied that I, Ashley Martin, who served as Chair during the year, has recent and relevant financial experience. For information about the Chair's relevant experience, please see the biography on page 67.

Executive members of the Board may attend meetings at the invitation of the Chair.

The Deputy Company Secretary attends meetings as Secretary to the Committee. The Chief Financial Officer, Group Finance Director and Company Secretary may also attend meetings at the invitation of the Chair, together with other subject matter experts.

The Chair meets regularly with the external auditor and separately with the Chief Financial Officer and members of the wider finance team. The Committee schedules time to receive the views of the external auditor without Executive Management being present.

Terms of Reference

The Committee operates under Terms of Reference agreed by the Board, which were last reviewed in December 2019, a copy of which can be found on our corporate website (corporate.yougov. com/governance).

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Activities during the year

During the year, as a Committee we considered the following matters:

Financial reporting

We reviewed the content of the half-year results announcement and the Annual Report & Accounts. The Committee does this by considering, among other things, the accounting policies and practices adopted by the Group; the application of applicable reporting standards and compliance with broader governance requirements; papers detailing the approach taken by management to the key judgemental areas of reporting and the comments of the external auditor on management's chosen approach.

The Committee also considers significant issues including Group materiality, whether the business remains a going concern and whether the Annual Report & Accounts gives a fair, balanced and understandable view of the Group's affairs for the year in question.

The key judgemental areas considered by the Committee in respect of the financial year ended 31 July 2020 were:

Judgemental items	Committee review

Impairment of goodwill	The Committee reviewed the reasonableness of the forecasts used. We paid
There is significant judgement and	particular attention to the terminal growth rate, historic growth rates achieved and
estimation in determining whether	a COVID-19 impacted economy. We also considered the allocation of assets and
Goodwill is impaired under IAS 36.	liabilities to geographic CGUs including classification of non-geographic CGUs.
This includes the components feeding	We considered the impact of sensitivities to the assumptions and whether there
into the value-in-use calculations
including forecast results, discount	were any further impairment risks.
rate, growth rates and allocation of	The Committee discussed with the Company's external auditors, PwC, the
assets to cash-generating units
("CGUs").	assumptions used which included advice from their valuation experts to consider
	the cost of capital used and the long-term growth rate applied.

Annual YouGov

Capitalisation of internally generated and separately acquired intangible assets The Company has a team of 40 developers creating software products. There is considerable judgement in determining whether the costs incurred meet the criteria required for capitalisation under IAS 38.

The Committee reviewed the process for distinguishing expenditure between enhancement and maintenance. We examined the different products created to ensure each met the criteria set out in IAS 38.

The Committee also considered whether previously capitalised software assets were still creating value for the Group and a three-year amortisation was still reasonable.

2020 Accounts & Report

The Company capitalises the costs incurred of enhancing the Company's proprietary global panel (the "Panel") whether into new geographies, demographics or target panellists. There is significant judgement incurred in ensuring that the costs of panel recruitment meet the criteria required for capitalisation as a separately acquired asset under IAS 38.

The Committee considered that the Panel is separately identifiable, under the control of YouGov and delivers future economic benefits as required by IAS 38.

We reviewed how the asset had been enhanced (territories and demographics) to satisfy ourselves that the costs incurred were not advertising but specifically acquisition costs of new panellists.

We noted YouGov is in line with the practice adopted in this area by several global competitors.

We considered the attrition rate of panellists to ensure our amortisation policy was appropriate to reflect the useful life of the asset.

We have also considered in detail the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, the impact for our key clients and suppliers and reviewed its potential impact on the measurement of our assets and liabilities.

You can read more about how the external auditors view these matters in their report on page 96.

Audit & Risk Committee Report continued

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Risk review

The Board has delegated primary responsibility for oversight and scrutiny of the Group's risk management processes to the Committee. At each meeting during the year we receive updates from the business on the progress of the risk management evaluation and mitigating actions, culminating in our review of the updated Group Risk Register at our June meeting.

For information on the risk review activities during the year, see pages 60 to 63.

Internal audit and controls assurance Along with the Committee's oversight of the annual risk review process, the Committee has assessed the effectiveness of internal controls operating during the year and monitors implementation measures to improve the control environment.

During the year, we were pleased to oversee the implementation of an external assurance programme with KPMG. Assurance projects were completed on Cyber Security, IT Disaster Recovery and Revenue Recognition in compliance with IFRS

15. Progress against actions and recommendations from each of these, and other control reviews, are presented to the Committee in order to oversee completion. Following the success these projects, we have now formally appointed KPMG as an assurance provider for

the next two years to undertake a programme of control reviews targeting areas highlighted as higher risk in the bi-annual risk review.

As reported last year, our information security management systems are certified to ISO 27001, an international standard. We were pleased to maintain this globally recognised standard as it reinforces our commitment to the security of our clients' data.

Aside from internal audits for ISO 27001 compliance and the assurance projects, there was no further formal internal audit work undertaken during the year, although the accounting functions were subject to periodic internal review by Senior Management.

External audit

The Committee is primarily responsible for overseeing the relationship with and the performance of the external auditor, PwC, which is engaged to conduct a statutory audit on the annual financial statements and express an opinion thereon.

The Committee reviews the scope of the PwC audit which includes the review and testing of controls over data which is used to produce the information contained in the financial statements.

The Committee approved the external auditor's terms of engagement and approved audit fees for the year ended 31 July 2020 of £407,000.

Auditor independence

The Committee also undertakes

a formal assessment of the auditor's independence each year, which includes:

objectivity and independence in the provision of non-audit services to the Group by the use of separate teams to provide such services where appropriate;
discussion with the auditors of a written report detailing their relationships with the Group and any other parties that could affect the independence or the perception of independence;
a review of the auditor's own procedures for ensuring independence of the audit firm and partners and staff involved in the audit, including the regular rotation of the audit partner; and
obtaining written confirmation from the auditors that, in their professional judgement, they are independent.

The Company has historically engaged PwC to provide certain non-audit services where appropriate (see page 123), but to do so requires the approval of the Committee and the audit partner. PwC has only been engaged for non-audit services relating to taxation compliance where its expertise about the business has been integral to the project. There is a clear delineation between PwC's audit teams and advisors on non-audit services, ensuring that the external auditors retain their independence. An analysis of the fees payable to the external audit firm in respect of both audit and non-audit services during the year is set out in Note 2 to the financial statements on page 123. The level of non-audit services has been approved by the Committee.

As a result of the revisions to the Ethical Standard for Auditors issued by the Financial Reporting Council in December 2019, YouGov plc as an Other Entity of Public Interest will no longer be able

to engage its external auditor PwC for taxation compliance services and is in the process of migrating the service to KPMG.

Effectiveness of external auditor After the conclusion of the prior year (ended 31 July 2019) full-yearaudit, the Committee conducted an in-housereview of the effectiveness of the external audit process. This review took into account the views of all parties working with the external auditors including the wider finance team and the corporate secretariat. After review, it was concluded that the external auditors remain independent, objective, challenging and effective in their audit.

Policy on external auditor rotation As an AIM-listedcompany, YouGov is not obligated to comply with the auditor rotation requirements for companies as set out in the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. PwC has been the Company's external auditor for 12 years and the Committee continues to be satisfied. In keeping with best practice, it is Committee policy for

the audit partner to be rotated every five years and Brian Henderson, our current audit partner, was appointed from the 2019 audit. There are no contractual restrictions on our choice of external auditor.

Compliance policies

We have continued to improve our compliance policies, making necessary changes to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

There will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask me questions about the work of the Committee as part of our 2020 AGM procedure.

Ashley Martin

Chair

Audit & Risk Committee

15 October 2020

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Directors' Remuneration Report

Rosemary Leith

Chair, Remuneration Committee

Main areas of responsibility:

Set the Remuneration Policy for Executive Directors
Monitor, and make recommendations on, remuneration policy for Senior Management
Oversee remuneration-related Company policies

Members

Our Remuneration Committee comprises entirely Non- Executive Directors:

		Meetings
Committee members	Role	attended

Rosemary Leith	Chair	5/5
Ashley Martin	Member	5/5
Andrea Newman	Member	3/5

At the invitation of the Chair, the following Directors attended meetings during the year as guests:

Roger Parry	2/2
Nick Jones1	1/3
Stephan Shakespeare	5/5
Alex McIntosh	5/5

Nick Jones retired from the Board on 11 December 2019.

Remuneration Committee Report

Dear shareholder

I am pleased to present to you the Remuneration Committee Report for the year ended 31 July 2020.

Areas of responsibility

As a Committee we set the strategy, structure and levels of remuneration for the Executive Directors and monitor the remuneration policy for Senior Management. The Committee does so in the context of aligning the financial interests of the Executive Directors and management with the achievement of the Group's stated strategic objectives.

Membership and attendance at meetings

This was the first full year of the current Committee membership, with Ashley Martin and Andrea Newman joining during the year to 31 July

2019. There were no changes to the Committee during the reporting year.

The Company Secretary attends all the Committee meetings as Secretary to the Committee and, by invitation, they are also attended by the Board Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Group HR Director and external professional advisors for all or part of any meeting as and when appropriate and necessary.

Terms of Reference

The Committee operates under Terms of Reference agreed by the Board, which were last reviewed in December 2019. These are available on the Company's website (corporate.yougov.com/ governance).

Activities during the year

During the year, as a Committee we have considered the following matters:

LTIP 2019 design and implementation;
LTIP 2014 vesting approval;
Executive Director remuneration levels; and
UK gender pay gap reporting.

Supporting the delivery of FYP2, the Committee has set a remuneration framework that incentivises and drives performance both today and over the long term.

Remuneration Policy

The Remuneration Policy at YouGov is designed to reward our workforce within a structure that reflects both Company and personal performance. The policy, to which there has been no material change in the reporting year, is to set base salaries for employees at normal market peer-group levels (or lower market peer-group levels for the Executive Directors) and to offer an annual cash bonus opportunity linked to pre-determined targets or objectives (or a commission plan for some roles) in addition. Share awards are offered to the Executive Directors and other key employees under long-term incentive plans that are designed to support the Company's strategic goals and reward the individual's contribution to value creation.

Long-term incentive plans During the year the Committee approved the full vesting of awards granted under the YouGov Long-TermIncentive Plan 2014 ("LTIP 2014") which was aligned to the Company's five- year strategic growth plan for 2014-19("FYP1"). YouGov delivered exceptional performance over the FYP1 performance period (from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2019), with compound annual growth in adjusted basic earnings per share1 ("EPS") of 29% and compound annual growth in share price of 38% (compared to 4% in the FTSE AIM All Share Index over the same period). Accordingly, the stretching financial performance targets for the LTIP 2014 were achieved in full. For more information on the LTIP 2014, see page 82.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

1 As defined at the start of the FYP1 performance period: excluding the impact of amortisation,
share-based payment charges, imputed interest and separately reported items.	77

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Remuneration Committee Report continued

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

During the year we also introduced the new YouGov Long-Term Incentive Plan 2019 ("LTIP 2019"), which is aligned to the Company's strategic growth plan for 2019-23 ("FYP2"). The LTIP 2019 replaces the LTIP 2014 and the Deferred Share Bonus Plan 2014 ("DSBP 2014") and consequently includes a larger cohort of participants than the LTIP 2014. As part of determining the plan design, the Committee consulted with major shareholders, all of which confirmed their support for the final design.

The Board believes the FYP2 strategic growth plan will deliver significant value for our shareholders and the Committee was pleased to deliver a share plan designed to motivate key employees for its achievement. For more information on the LTIP 2019, see page 80.

Directors' Remuneration Report While there has been no material change to the Directors' Remuneration Policy during the year, our Annual Report on Remuneration disclosures have been expanded compared to last year. As an AIM-listedcompany, YouGov is not obligated to comply with the remuneration reporting requirements for companies as set out in the Large and Medium-sizedCompanies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 (and subsequent amendments) and the Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018. However,

the Committee is committed to making disclosures to the degree appropriate to the size of our business. Accordingly, certain disclosures in this report reflect requirements of the regulations and have been included voluntarily.

In addition, while AIM-listed companies are not obligated to seek shareholder approval of their Directors' Remuneration Report, as practice we present our Annual Report on Remuneration at each AGM in order to provide accountability and transparency over our remuneration practices. At the 2019 AGM, of the votes received on the Annual Report on Remuneration, 99.99% were in favour that it be accepted.

Pay gap reporting

Ensuring that YouGov is demonstrating its commitment to an inclusive workplace through its remuneration practices is one of the Remuneration Committee's priorities and monitoring of YouGov's gender pay gap is an important part of this. The gender pay gap measures the difference in earnings between women and men across all roles; it is not the same as equal pay.

As at 5 April 2019, the mean average gender pay gap in our UK business was 23.0%, down from 26.3% in 2018. While I am pleased to see that the mean hourly pay gap has moved in the right direction,

there is more to be done. Both the Board and Senior Management are committed to narrowing the gender pay gap at YouGov. Throughout the next financial year I am keen to continue to work with the Board and YouGov's management team to ensure that YouGov is doing

all it can to close its pay gap over a reasonable period.

Our latest UK Gender Pay Gap Report was published on 1 May 2020, in accordance with the UK Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 and can be found at corporate.yougov.com/governance/ genderpaygap.

Conclusion

We welcome feedback from shareholders on our Directors' Remuneration Report and there will be an opportunity to ask me questions about the work of the Committee as part of our 2020 AGM procedure.

Rosemary Leith

Chair

Remuneration Committee

15 October 2020

AGM voting history

Absolute votes on the Annual	For
Report on Remuneration 2019	61,946,210

Total:

61,946,912

For

61,946,210

Against

WithheldDiscretionary

450212

Historic votes in favour of the Annual Report on Remuneration 2015-19

2015	98.53%
2016	99.90%
2017	100.00%
2018	97.17%
2019	99.99%

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Directors' Remuneration Policy

The following section of this report describes our Remuneration Policy for YouGov's Executive and Non-Executive Directors. There has been no material change to the Remuneration Policy during the year.

Executive Director Remuneration Policy

The Remuneration Committee (the "Committee") reviews the performance of Executive Directors and sets the scale and structure of their remuneration and the basis of their service agreements with due regard to the interests of shareholders. In determining that remuneration, the Committee seeks to offer a competitive remuneration structure to maintain the high calibre of its Executive Directors. The Committee believes that maintaining the Group's business growth and profit record requires an overall compensation policy with a strong performance-related element.

Base salary

Purpose and link to strategy

Provides a core level of reward for the completion of Executive Directors' duties. Set at a level that allows us to attract and retain employees of the calibre to drive the Company's success.

Maximum opportunity

There is no maximum salary limit. When considering salary levels, the Committee will consider the specific nature and responsibilities of the role at YouGov, the capabilities and experience of the individual, as well as pay levels in relevant talent markets.

Operation

The Committee's policy is to review salaries annually. Basic salary for each Director is determined by the Remuneration Committee considering the performance of the individual as well as external peer-group market data. Salary increases will be generally awarded in line with increases applicable to the wider employee group; however, the Remuneration Committee may exercise discretion to vary the amount awarded based on merit or market data.

Performance framework

Not applicable.

Pension

Purpose and link to strategy

Provides Executive Directors with long-term savings for their future.

Maximum opportunity

Executive Directors are eligible for the standard company pension contributions (or equivalent cash payments in lieu) of up to 5% of base salary.

Operation

Where applicable, payments are made directly to a nominated pension scheme or, if payments are made in cash, they are delivered monthly through payroll.

Performance framework

Not applicable.

Other benefits

Purpose and link to strategy

Provision of benefits in line with the Executive Directors' local market and those offered to the wider workforce in that market.

Maximum opportunity

There is no defined maximum value for benefits, but the Committee will consider the aggregate value of any such benefits when determining what should be offered.

Operation

Executive Directors are eligible to a range of benefits, including private healthcare and any other benefit deemed appropriate by the Committee. Any reasonable business-related expenses may be reimbursed, including any taxes payable thereon if determined to be a taxable benefit.

Performance framework

Not applicable.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Directors' Remuneration Policy continued

Annual bonus plan

Purpose and link to strategy

The annual bonus plan is focused on the achievement of the Group's short-term objectives, in complement to the LTIP which is focused on the achievement of the Group's long-term objectives. The bonus plan for the reporting year was linked specifically to Group adjusted operating profit1 performance, one of the Group's key performance indicators (see page 26).

Maximum opportunity

Executive Directors are eligible for a maximum annual bonus of 150% of base salary per annum. The Committee will determine an appropriate award size each year within this parameter.

Operation

Bonuses are paid in cash each year after the publication of the audited financial statements.

Performance framework

The Remuneration Committee sets annual bonus targets for the Executive Directors linked to the annual budgeted Group adjusted operating profit1; this is complemented by an LTIP which is designed to incentivise management for the achievement of long-term earnings growth.

1 Defined in the explanation of Non-IFRS measures on page 59.

Share incentive plans

Current share plans

YouGov Long-Term Incentive Plan 2019 ("LTIP 2019")

Purpose and link to strategy

The Board believes that share ownership by the Executive Directors strengthens the link between their personal interests and those of the shareholders in respect of shareholder value. It therefore established long-term incentive plans designed to reflect an individual manager's contribution to long-term value creation. This plan has been designed to incentivise and reward the achievement of the long-term performance objectives that define the Company's strategic growth plan, FYP2. This plan has replaced the LTIP 2014 and DSBP 2014.

Maximum opportunity

The maximum total number of shares which may ordinarily be granted to a participant over the life of the plan will be determined by reference to their base salary and the share price at the start of the plan; the award level opportunities vary by participant.

The Executive Director award level opportunities are as follows:

Role	Award level opportunity (maximum total cumulative award value as a % of base salary in 2019)

Chief Executive Officer	1,200%
Other Executive Directors	600%

In addition to the Executive Directors, selected employees from across the Group will also participate in the LTIP 2019, at lower award level opportunities.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Operation

Awards will be granted in three equal tranches: Award I, Award II and Award III in October 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively (together the "LTIP 2019 Awards").

Awards will normally be in the form of nil cost options.

The grant of an award in each of these years will be conditional upon the achievement of specific and demanding personal performance objectives to be satisfied in the financial year preceding the grant of awards. The personal performance objectives for the Executive Directors' granted awards will be disclosed in the Annual Report & Accounts of the relevant reporting year.

The normal vesting date for all LTIP 2019 Awards will be the date of the public announcement of YouGov's annual results for the financial year ended 31 July 2023, expected to be in October 2023.

The Executive Directors will be required to retain any vested shares acquired under the LTIP 2019 (either on an unexercised or net of tax basis) until at least the first anniversary of the vesting of the awards.

Awards under the plan will be subject to malus in circumstances where there has been a material misstatement, a material failure of risk management or serious reputational damage to the Company.

Awards held by good leavers (those who leave by reason of death, ill-health, injury, redundancy, retirement with the consent of the Remuneration Committee, transfer of employing business or as otherwise determined by the Committee) will normally vest on the normal vest date and be pro-rated for time.

Awards held by other leavers will lapse on termination of employment.

In the event of a change of control, awards will vest based on performance achieved to that date and normally be pro-rated for time.

Performance framework

The key performance metric for the awards will be compound annual growth in adjusted basic EPS1. Compound annual growth in adjusted basic EPS1 will be defined in accordance with the Company's reported accounting policies, and will exclude exceptional and non-recurring items, but include acquisitions, to ensure it fairly reflects the performance achieved.

Performance will be measured over four years using the financial year ended 31 July 2019 as a base year.

The vesting of awards will be dependent on YouGov's earning per share growth, one of the Group's key performance indicators, as follows:

4 year adjusted basic EPS1 CAGR	% of award vesting
Below 10%	Nil
Between 10% and 15%	Pro-rata between 10% and 25%
Between 15% and 35%	Pro-rata between 25% and 100%
35% or above	100%

For performance between threshold, target and stretch levels, vesting will occur based on a sliding scale.

In addition, a discretionary underpin will be applied based on the quality of the underlying financial performance of the Company during 2019-23. This shall include, but not be limited to, the average of the adjusted operating profit margin1 being at least 15% over the period. The application of the underpin by the Committee may reduce the vesting level of the LTIP 2019 Awards, potentially to nil.

1 Defined in the explanation of Non-IFRS measures on page 59.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Directors' Remuneration Policy continued

LTIP 2019 timeline

2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Explanation

Granting Award I

Award II

Award III

Award grants subject to the achievement of personal performance objectives

Vesting

Performance period

Vesting subject to the achievement of stretching targets aligned with FYP2

to the Executive Directors, the related performance objectives will be disclosed as part

award grants; for example, Award I is due

		in October 2020 and any award outcomes
		personal performance objectives will be reported
		Annual Report & Accounts for the year-ended
		2019 Operation section above for more detail on
		.
One-year		will be due to vest in 2023 subject to the
post-vesting		the related Company performance metrics
holding		period. The key performance metric for vesting
period for the		annual growth in adjusted basic earnings per
Executive	1	will be measured over four years
Director		with the year ended 31 July 2019 as
awards		. Executive Director awards will be subject to

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Historic share plans

YouGov Long-Term Incentive Plan 2014 ("LTIP 2014")

Summary

The LTIP 2014 was established to incentivise senior leadership for the achievement of the Company's five-year plan for 2014‑19.

The participants are the Executive Directors and a small group of senior leaders whom the Board considered had a key role to play in the delivery of YouGov's strategic plans. LTIP 2014 was designed to reward participants for the achievement of highly demanding EPS growth targets over the five-year period ending 31 July 2019.

Under the rules of this plan, participants are conditionally awarded nil cost options to acquire shares (or conditional stock awards, if US residents). The awards are granted in three equal tranches over 2015/16 to 2017/18. Receipt of an award in each of these years is dependent upon the achievement of specific and demanding personal performance objectives for the previous financial year.

The award vesting conditions (detailed below) include EPS targets and an operating profit margin target and the Remuneration Committee's assessment of the Group's underlying financial performance over the plan period.

Vesting of awards is dependent on the Group achieving the targets for compound EPS growth in the plan period as set out in the table below:

5 year adjusted basic EPS1 CAGR	% of award vesting
Below 10%	Nil
10%	15%
15%	30%
25%	100%

Vesting of awards was dependent on the Group's average operating margin being at least 12% over the five-year period (average operating margin is the average of the adjusted operating profit, as defined in the accounts, divided by the revenue with each year's margin percentage being calculated first). If this underpin condition is not achieved, the shares awarded will not vest. If it is met, then the five-year adjusted EPS1 growth performance will be assessed against the targets set out in the table above.

As defined at the start of the FYP1 performance period: excluding the impact of amortisation, share-based payment charges, imputed interest and separately reported items.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

The maximum total number of shares to be awarded to each participant over the five years of the plan is determined by reference to their base salary and the share price at the start of the plan; the award level opportunities vary by participant. The Executive Director award level opportunities are as follows:

Role	Award level opportunity (maximum total cumulative award value as a % of base salary in 2015)

Chief Executive Officer	850%
Other Executive Directors	500%

In addition, the Chief Executive Officer is entitled to an enhanced award if the Company's share price grows by more than 200% over the five-year period and if the other vesting conditions are also met in full. This additional award equates to 255% of his annual salary in the year ended 31 July 2015. The combined maximum potential award for the Chief Executive Officer is thus 1,105% of his annual salary.

The awards vested on 25 November 2019. No share options were granted under the LTIP 2014 in the year ended 31 July 2020.

YouGov Deferred Share Bonus Plan 2014 ("DSBP 2014")

Summary

The Deferred Share Bonus Plan was established in 2014, for senior managers in the Group who did not participate in the LTIP 2014.

This plan entitles participants to an award of shares which must be retained for a period of two years and whose vesting is subject to their continued employment during that time. The value of the award will be linked to the assessment of performance made in determining their annual bonus. The maximum award level is 10% of basic salary, awarded annually.

The final round of awards under DSBP 2014 were granted in November 2019. 94,980 share options were granted under the DSBP 2014 in the year ended 31 July 2020, none of which were granted to Executive Directors of the Company.

YouGov Long-Term Incentive Plan 2009 ("LTIP 2009")

Summary

From 2009 to 2014, the Executive Directors and senior managers in the Group were eligible to participate in the LTIP 2009.

Under the rules of this plan, participants are conditionally awarded nil cost options to acquire shares (or conditional stock awards, if US residents). The number of such shares awarded is normally calculated by reference to a percentage of the participant's salary and the Company's closing share price for an appropriate reference period. The shares subject to the awards are to be released to the recipients at the end of a holding period, normally three years, subject to their continued employment. The performance criteria attached to these awards relate to EPS growth and Total Shareholder Return ("TSR") versus companies in the AIM Media Index.

The final round of awards granted under the LTIP 2009 vested in 2016. No share options were granted under the LTIP 2009 in the year ended 31 July 2020.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Directors' Remuneration Policy continued

Executive Director Remuneration Policy scenario analysis

The charts below illustrate the amounts that each of the Executive Directors would be paid under different annual performance scenarios, based on the Directors' Remuneration Policy.

Stephan Shakespeare

Minimum												£327,327

		100%
Target												£1,415,607

23%		19%			58%

Maximum															£1,551,642

21%		26%			53%
Maximum											£1,959,747


17%		21%			41%				21%
+50% share
price appreciation
Alex McIntosh

Minimum												£198,699

		100%
Target													£688,879

29%		28%					43%

Maximum														£786,915

26%		37%					37%
Maximum										£933,969


21%		32%					31%	16%
+50% share
price appreciation
Sundip Chahal

Minimum												£321,992

		100%
Target													£930,973

35%		26%				39%

Maximum													£1,052,769

30%		35%				35%
Maximum										£1,235,463


+50% share	26%		30%				30%	14%
price appreciation
	Fixed remuneration		Annual bonus	LTIP 2019				Share price growth

The underlying assumptions for each of the above performance scenarios are detailed below.

	Fixed remuneration	Variable remuneration

Performance scenario	Base salary, pension and benefits1	Annual bonus1	LTIP 20192

Minimum

On-target

Maximum

Maximum +50%

Base salary
Benefits
Pension

Based on the figures for the year to 31 July 2020

N/A	N/A

On-target annual bonus	Full LTIP vesting (100% of
(100% of base salary)	maximum) at the share price
	at the start of the plan
Maximum annual bonus	Full LTIP vesting (100% of
(150% of base salary)	maximum) at the share price
	at the start of the plan
As maximum	As maximum but with the
	assumption of share price
	growth of 50%

Stephan Shakespeare is paid 15% GBP: 85% AED. Alex McIntosh is paid 100% GBP. Sundip Chahal is paid 100% AED. For the purpose of this illustration, remuneration paid in AED has been translated into GBP at a rate of 1GBP:4.6345AED, being the average exchange rate during the reporting period.

As the Company's long-term incentive awards are granted in shares and subject to stretching performance targets, the actual value of awards can vary significantly dependent on the extent to which targets are achieved and the movement in share price. The LTIP 2019 covers the performance period 2019-23. The awards are due to be awarded in October 2020, October 2021 and October 2022 and ordinarily vest in October 2023. For the purposes of this illustration, the annual value of the LTIP 2019 Awards has been determined based on the individual's maximum opportunity for awards over the life of the four-year plan divided by four. No adjustments have been made for the potential payment of dividends. The operation of the LTIP 2019, including the performance targets and potential maximum award sizes, is set out on page 81.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Non-Executive Director Remuneration Policy

The remuneration of the Non-Executive Directors is set by the Board as a whole. The Board believes that ownership of the Company's shares by the Non-Executive Directors helps to align their interests with those of the Company's shareholders. Accordingly, the Company's policy is that a proportion of each Non-Executive Director's fee will be paid in the form of Ordinary Shares in lieu of cash.

Overview

Purpose and link to strategy

Supports recruitment and retention of Non-Executive Directors with the required skills and experience to lead the Company.

Maximum opportunity

Aggregate fees are subject to the limit set out in the Articles of Association.

Performance framework

Not applicable.

Directors' service contracts

The table below summarises key details in respect of each Director's service contract.

Executive Directors	Title	Contract date	Notice period

Stephan Shakespeare	Chief Executive Officer	18 April 2005	12 months
Alex McIntosh	Chief Financial Officer	21 March 2018	6 months
Sundip Chahal	Chief Operating Officer	21 March 2018	6 months
Non-Executive Directors	Title	Contract date	Notice period

Roger Parry	Non-Executive Chair	6 February 2007¹	30 days
Rosemary Leith	Non-Executive Director	1 February 2015	30 days
Andrea Newman	Non-Executive Director	6 December 2017	30 days
Ashley Martin	Non-Executive Director	1 September 2018	30 days
Ben Elliot²	Non-Executive Director	2 August 2010	30 days
Nick Jones3	Non-Executive Director	2 June 2009	30 days

Roger Parry's appointment was effective from 15 January 2007 as confirmed in the letter of appointment dated 6 February 2007.
2 Ben Elliot retired as Director on 13 September 2019. 3 Nick Jones retired as Director on 11 December 2019.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Annual Report on Remuneration

This report provides details of how the Directors were paid during the financial year to 31 July 2020. A resolution will be put to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 10 December 2020, inviting them to consider and approve this report. The remuneration report is unaudited, except where stated. This is not a remuneration report as defined by company law.

Directors' remuneration (audited)

Directors' remuneration in aggregate for the year ended 31 July 2020 (with the prior year comparative) was as follows:

		Year to	Base salary	Taxable	Annual	Pension	Total
Name	/fees	benefits	bonus
31 July	£	£	£	£	£

Executive Directors1

Stephan Shakespeare	2020	273,806	37,769i	282,953	17,488	612,016
2019	263,979	41,785	291,961	25,253	622,978

Alex McIntosh	2020	194,175	993ii	203,915	1,634	400,717
2019	190,242	1,185	210,407	0	401,834

Sundip Chahal	2020	245,446	49,241iii	253,336	29,159	577,182
2019	230,103	49,605	254,493	17,824	552,025

	Non-Executive Directors2
Roger Parry	2020	100,000	-	-	-	100,000
2019	100,000	-	-	-	100,000

Rosemary Leith3	2020	49,297	-	-	-	49,297
2019	44,917	-	-	-	44,917

	Ashley Martin	2020	47,000	-	-	-	47,000
	2019	40,667	-	-	-	40,667

	Andrea Newman	2020	40,000	-	-	-	40,000
	2019	37,917	-	-	-	37,917

	Former Non-Executive Directors
	Ben Elliot4	2020	4,263	-	-	-	4,263
	2019	37,917	-	-	-	37,917

	Nick Jones5	2020	14,018	-	-	-	14,018
	2019	39,958	-	-	-	39,958

Stephan Shakespeare is paid 15% GBP: 85% AED. Alex McIntosh is paid 100% GBP. Sundip Chahal is paid 100% AED. For the purpose of this report, remuneration paid in AED has been translated into GBP at a rate of 1GBP:4.6345AED, being the average exchange rate during the reporting period. The Executive Directors each received a salary increase of 2.5% with effect from 1 October 2019. Alex McIntosh received pension contributions from June 2020 onwards.

All Non-Executive Directors are paid 100% GBP and receive a proportion of their annual fee in shares in line with the Directors' Remuneration Policy. During the reporting year, £20,000 of the Chair's fee and £5,000 of the other Non-Executive Directors' fee were paid in shares, as detailed on page 89.

Rosemary Leith appointed Senior Independent Director from 11 December 2019.
4 Ben Elliot retired as Non-Executive Director on 13 September 2019.
5 Nick Jones retired as Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director on 11 December 2019.

The taxable benefits received consist of:

Private healthcare, family travel allowance and living accommodation allowance. ii Private healthcare.
iii Expatriate benefits, including family visas, private healthcare, family travel allowance and dependents' school fees.

Additionally during the year the Executive Directors benefited from the vesting of nil cost awards under the LTIP 2014 which covered the five-year performance period from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2019. Maximum award opportunities were determined based on the market value of £1.11 per share at the start of the plan in 2014. Based on the market value at vesting on

25 November 2019 of £5.70, the value of the LTIP 2019 Awards released to the Executive Directors was: Stephan Shakespeare £13,288,342 (2,331,288 shares); Alex McIntosh £2,569,275 (450,750 shares); and Sundip Chahal £3,226,103 (565,983 shares). For more detail on the awards granted to the Executive Directors over the life of this long-term incentive plan, and the vesting outcome, see the facing page.

Payments for external appointments

No Executive Director received any remuneration in the year in respect of external non-executive appointments.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Annual bonus performance outcome

The Executive Directors' annual bonus plan for the 12 months to 31 July 2020 was set in relation to the Group's annual budgeted adjusted operating profit1 target for the year. As a result of the target operating profit being exceed, the Committee determined that it was fair and reasonable for the annual bonuses to be paid out at the level of 104% of base salary, as shown in the table below.

	Performance measure	Outturn

	Adjusted operating
	profit1 for 2019/20	% of base salary
Weighting	100%	n/a
Threshold	£20.0m	25%
Target	£21.0m	100%
Maximum (Cap)	£31.5m	150%
Actual	£21.7m	104%

Long-Term Incentive Plan performance outcome

LTIP 2014 granted awards

The share awards granted to the Executive Directors during the life of the LTIP 2014 (2014-19) were as shown in the below table.

			CEO Enhanced			Director Top-Up	Total
	Plan	Award I	Award1	Award II	Award III	Awards2
	awards
	Date of grant	9 December	9 December	17 November	12 December	3 April
		2015	2015	2016	2017	2018
	Stephan Shakespeare	575,253	544,976	605,529	605,530	n/a	2,331,288
Alex McIntosh	86,486	n/a	86,486	86,487	191,291	450,750
Sundip Chahal	120,412	n/a	120,412	120,411	204,748	565,983

1 The CEO Enhanced Award is described on page 83.

2 The Director Top-Up Awards were made following the promotion of Alex McIntosh and Sundip Chahal to Executive Director roles.

LTIP 2014 share price appreciation

The maximum total number of share awards which could be granted to a participant under the LTIP 2014 was determined by reference to their base salary and the YouGov share price at the start of the plan; appreciation in the share price from the start of the plan to the end of the plan (vesting) is shown in the below table.

Market value of awards at start of	Market value of awards at plan
plan in 20141 £	vesting in 20192 £	Share price appreciation 2014-19 %	Share price CAGR 2014-19 %
£1.11	£5.70	414%	38%

Under the LTIP 2014, the market value at the start of the plan was determined as the average closing price of a share on AIM over the period of three months ending on the third dealing day following the announcement of the Group's results for the year ended 31 July 2014, being 13 October 2014.

2 The market value upon the plan vesting reflects the closing share price on the last trading day prior to the vesting date of 25 November 2019.

LTIP 2014 vesting outcome

As a result of strong financial performance during the five-year period 2014-19, the thresholds set by the Board for the purposes of the vesting of awards granted under the LTIP 2014 were exceeded, as presented in the table below. Upon assessment of these outcomes, and of the underlying financial performance of the Company, the Committee determined that it was fair and reasonable for the LTIP 2014 Awards to vest in full and accordingly all awards vested on 25 November 2019.

	Performance measures	Outturn

	Adjusted basic EPS1	Average operating profit	% of granted awards
	CAGR 2014-19	margin1 2014-19	vesting

Weighting	100%	Discretionary	n/a
Threshold	10%	12%	15%
Target	25%	12%	100%
Maximum	25%	12%	100%
Actual	29% (exceeded)	15% (exceeded)	100% (full vesting)

1 Defined in the explanation of Non-IFRS measures on page 59.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Annual Report on Remuneration continued

CEO remuneration history

The table below shows the CEO's fixed and variable pay, including annual bonus, and LTIP vesting when applicable, over the last five years.

Stephan Shakespeare	Year to	Year to	Year to	Year to	Year to
31 July 2020	31 July 2019	31 July 2018	31 July 2017	31 July 2016

Fixed remuneration1 (£)	329,063	331,017	307,745	252,077	248,909
Annual bonus (£)	282,953	291,961	258,589	252,718	241,970
Annual bonus (% of target)2	104.0%	110.6%	100.7%	101.4%	100.0%
	Annual bonus (% of maximum)2	69.3%	73.7%	67.1%	96.6%	95.2%
	LTIP vesting (£)3	13,288,342	n/a	n/a	n/a	187,688
	LTIP vesting	100.0%	n/a	n/a	n/a	100.0%
	(% of maximum opportunity)4

1 Fixed remuneration includes base salary, benefits and pension.

Throughout all five years the on-target annual bonus figure has remained 100% of base salary. In 2016 and 2017, the annual bonus was capped at 105% of base salary, while in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the annual bonus was capped at 150% of base salary.

Gains made under the Company's long-term incentive plans are recognised in the financial year of vesting. The figure received in the year to 31 July 2020 represents the vesting of multiple awards of shares granted over the life of the LTIP 2014 which covered the performance period from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2019 and which all vested on 25 November 2019; the market value of the awards was £1.11 at the start of the plan in 2014 and £5.70 at vesting in 2019. The 2016 figure represents the release of an award of shares granted under the Company's historic Deferred Share Plan 2010 on 21 October 2015; the market value of the awards was £0.44 at granting in 2010 and £1.15 at vesting in 2015.

4 LTIP vesting shows the percentage of the eligible awards that vested in that financial year.

Total Shareholder Return

The chart below compares the value of £100 invested in YouGov plc shares (including reinvested dividends) on 1 August 2015, compared to the equivalent investment in the FTSE AIM All Share Index, over the last five financial years (1 August 2015 to

31 July 2020).

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
August		August	August	August	August	July

2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
			YouGov TSR		FTSE AIM All Share TSR

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Non-Executive Directors' fee rates

The Non-Executive Directors' fee rates were last reviewed in 2018/19 and remained unchanged during the year:

Role	Annual fee
rate (£)

Non-Executive Chair	100,000
Non-Executive Director	40,000
Senior Independent Director	3,500
Committee Chair	7,000

Non-Executive Directors' fee proportion paid in shares

In keeping with the Directors' Remuneration Policy, during the year a proportion of the Non-Executive Directors' fees were paid in the form of Ordinary Shares, in lieu of cash, as noted in the below table.

	Name	Role	Shares issued	Market value (£)1
	Roger Parry	Non-Executive Chair	3,031	20,000
	Rosemary Leith	Non-Executive Director	758	5,000
Ashley Martin	Non-Executive Director	758	5,000
Andrea Newman	Non-Executive Director	758	5,000

The payments made in shares amounted to 5,305 shares in total (2019: 10,115 shares).

1 The figure presented reflects the closing share price of the last trading day prior to the payment on 24 April 2020 of £6.60.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Remuneration Report continued

Annual Report on Remuneration continued

Executive Directors' share options (audited)

The following unexercised nil cost options over shares were held by Directors as of 31 July 2020:

Plan	Date of grant	Earliest	Expiry date	Number at	Awarded in	Exercised in	Number at
exercise date	31 July 2019	year	year	31 July 2020

Stephan Shakespeare
LTIP 2009	7 April 2014	17 October 2016	6 April 2024	262,185	-	-	262,185
LTIP 2014	9 December 20151	14 October 2019	8 December 2025	544,976	-	-	544,976
LTIP 2014	9 December 2015	14 October 2019	8 December 2025	575,253	-	-	575,253
	LTIP 2014	17 November 2016	14 October 2019	16 November 2026	605,529	-	-	605,529
	LTIP 2014	12 December 2017	14 October 2019	11 December 2027	605,530	-	-	605,530
					2,593,473	-	-	2,593,473
	Alex McIntosh
	LTIP 2009	29 July 2010	15 October 2012	28 July 2020	14,527	-	14,527	-
	LTIP 2009	21 July 2011	14 October 2013	20 July 2021	17,500	-	-	17,500
	LTIP 2009	30 July 2012	13 October 2014	29 July 2022	15,326	-	-	15,326
	LTIP 2009	7 April 2014	17 October 2016	6 April 2024	11,517	-	-	11,517
	LTIP 2014	9 December 2015	14 October 2019	8 December 2025	86,486	-	-	86,486
	LTIP 2014	17 November 2016	14 October 2019	16 November 2026	86,486	-	-	86,486
	LTIP 2014	12 December 2017	14 October 2019	11 December 2027	86,487	-	-	86,486
	LTIP 2014	3 April 2018	14 October 2019	11 December 2027	191,291	-	-	191,291
					509,620	-	-	495,093
	Sundip Chahal
	LTIP 2014	9 December 2015	14 October 2019	8 December 2025	120,412	-	120,412	-
	LTIP 2014	17 November 2016	14 October 2019	16 November 2026	120,412	-	120,412	-
	LTIP 2014	12 December 2017	14 October 2019	11 December 2027	120,411	-	120,412	-
LTIP 2014	3 April 2018	14 October 2019	11 December 2027	204,748	-	204,748	-
					565,983	-	565,983	-

1 LTIP 2014 CEO's enhanced award, as described on page 83.

No share options were awarded in the year.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Directors' share interests

				Share	Share awards		Vested but
				options with	without	Scheme interests	Shares beneficially	Total interest in
				performance	performance	unexercised share
				conditions	conditions	in shares	options	owned	shares

			Executive Directors
			Stephan Shakespeare	-	-	-	2,593,473	7,417,556	10,011,029
			Alex McIntosh	-	-	-	495,093	5,353	500,446
		Sundip Chahal	-	-	-	0	877,073	877,073
	Non-Executive Directors
	Roger Parry	-	-	-	-	109,987	109,987
	Rosemary Leith	-	-	-	-	13,027	13,027
Ashley Martin	-	-	-	-	7,499	7,499
Andrea Newman	-	-	-	-	3,156	3,156

Following the vesting of the LTIP 2014 in November 2019, the Executive Directors do not currently hold any unvested share options. The first tranche of share awards relating to the Company's current long-term share incentive plan, the LTIP 2019, are scheduled to be granted in October 2020 subject to Committee approval and subsequently to be reported in next year's Annual Report & Accounts. For more details about conditions of the LTIP 2019, see pages 80 to 82.

Report signed on behalf of the Board:

Rosemary Leith

Chair Remuneration Committee

On behalf of the Board

15 October 2020

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Directors' Report

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Report for the year ended 31 July 2020

The Directors present their report for the year ended 31 July 2020, which has been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

Other information, which has been included elsewhere within the Annual Report, but which is relevant to this report, is incorporated by reference, per the table below:

Disclosure	Page

Key performance indicators	26
Future developments and
prospects	25
Operating results	1
Financial summary	54
Principal risks and
uncertainties	60
Financial risks	141
Section 172 statement	38
Corporate governance
arrangements and code	64
Directors' statement of
responsibility	95
Interests in subsidiaries	135
Transactions with Directors
and other related parties	146
Events after the reporting year	147

Principal activity

YouGov plc and subsidiaries' (the "Group") principal activity is the provision of market research.

Directors

The Directors of YouGov plc who were in office during the year and at any point up to the date of signing this report were:

Name	Title	Role

Stephan Shakespeare	Chief Executive Officer	Executive
Alex McIntosh	Chief Financial Officer	Executive
Sundip Chahal	Chief Operating Officer	Executive
Roger Parry	Non-Executive Chair	Non-Executive
Rosemary Leith	Non-Executive Director	Non-Executive
Ashley Martin	Non-Executive Director	Non-Executive
Andrea Newman	Non-Executive Director	Non-Executive
		Non-Executive
Ben Elliot	Non-Executive Director	(Retired 13 September 2019)
		Non-Executive
Nick Jones	Non-Executive Director	(Retired 11 December 2019)

Directors' insurance

During the financial year, the Group has maintained Directors' and Officers' liability insurance. In accordance with section 234 of the Companies Act 2006, qualifying third-party indemnity provisions are in place for the Directors and Company Secretary in respect of liabilities incurred because of their office, to the extent permitted by law. This insurance was in force at the date of signing of the Annual Report & Accounts.

Directors' interests in shares

The interests of the current Directors in the shares of the Company as at 31 July

2020 and 31 July 2019 were as below:

	As at 31 July	As at 31 July
	2020	2019
	Number of	Number of
	shares	Shares

Stephan Shakespeare 1	7,417,556	7,417,556
Alex McIntosh	5,353	8,978
Sundip Chahal	877,073	311,008
Roger Parry	109,987	106,956
Rosemary Leith	13,027	11,819
Ashley Martin	7,499	6,741
Andrea Newman	3,156	2,398

Includes 559,404 Ordinary Shares held by Stephan Shakespeare's wife, Rosamund Shakespeare.

There have been no changes to Directors' interests in shares since the financial year-end. The Directors' interests in share options are detailed in the Remuneration Report on pages 89 to 91.

Section 172(1) Companies Act 2006

The statement in accordance with section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 can be found on pages 38 to 39.

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Employment policies and employee involvement

A diverse and inclusive workforce is particularly important to YouGov given our mission to provide insight into "what the world thinks". The Board is committed to pursuing equality and diversity in all its employment activities including recruitment, training, career development and promotion and ensuring there is no bias or discrimination in the treatment of people. Our learning and development and career development resources, opportunities and processes are available for all our employees to access, regardless of their gender, race, age, disability or other protected characteristic. Applications for employment are welcomed from persons with disabilities, and special arrangements and adjustments

as necessary are made to ensure that applicants are treated fairly when attending for interview or for pre-employment aptitude tests. Wherever possible the opportunity is taken to make appropriate adjustments for or retrain people who become disabled during their employment in order to maintain their employment within the Group.

The Board firmly believes in the importance of keeping employees informed and engaged in the financial and economic factors affecting the Group's performance. Information about the Group's performance against our five-year plan is shared with employees through regular Global Town Halls, all-staff emails and our global intranet. Employees are encouraged to own shares in the Company, and many employees are shareholders and/

or hold options under the Group's share option schemes as part of their compensation packages.

Relationships with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders

We have identified our key stakeholders and you can read more about how we engage with them on pages 40 to 43 and how the Directors have had regard to the need to foster the Company's business relationships with stakeholders including on principal decisions taken by the Company during the year on pages 38 and 39.

Modern Slavery Act

We have in place policies and procedures to assess, monitor and reduce the risk of forced labour and human trafficking occurring in our businesses and supply chains. Assessments of all key suppliers are completed as part of ensuring compliance with the Modern Slavery Act across the YouGov Group. Our statement on Modern Slavery in our supply chain is available at: corporate.yougov.com/ modernslavery.

Supplier payment practices

It is the policy and practice of the Group to make payments due to suppliers

in accordance with agreed terms and conditions, generally 30 days. For the period ended 31 July 2020, the average time taken to pay invoices was 19 days.

Dividends

A final dividend of 4.0p per share in respect of the year ended 31 July

2019 was paid on 16 December 2019, amounting to a total payment of £4,298,000. A dividend of 5.0p per share in respect of the year ended 31 July 2020, amounting to a total payment of £5,424,000 will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting on

10 December 2020.

Treasury shares

The total number of shares held in treasury at 31 July 2020 was nil (2019: nil). The YouGov Employee Benefit Trust holds shares to facilitate the settlement of awards under employee share schemes. These are not considered treasury shares under company law. For information on the Employee Benefit Trust, see below.

Authority to purchase the

Company's shares

At the AGM on 11 December 2019, shareholders authorised the Company to make one or more market purchases of up to 10,573,100 of the Company's Ordinary Shares to be held in treasury at a price between 2.0p (exclusive of expenses) and 105% of the average closing middle market price of a share for the five business days immediately preceding the date on which the share is purchased. No purchases were made during the year with the exception of purchases made by the Employee Benefit Trust described below and the Directors propose to renew this authority at the 2020 AGM.

Employee Benefit Trust

Sanne Fiduciary Services Limited ("Sanne") is Trustee of the YouGov Employee Benefit Trust (the "Trust") and tasked with a programme of share purchases. The purpose of these purchases is to facilitate the settlement of awards under the Company's employee share schemes. At 31 July 2020, the YouGov Employee Benefit Trust held 741,152 Ordinary Shares.

Guidance for shareholders for use when calculating their percentage holding in the Company can be found below under "Major shareholders".

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Executive Management hosts regular Global Town Hall meetings with

an opportunity for employees to ask questions.

For more information about how we involve, engage and communicate with employees, see pages 40 and 49.

For more information about how the Board of Directors have had regard to employee interests in respect of principal decisions taken during the year, see pages 38 and 39.

Major shareholders

At 31 July 2020, the Company was aware of the following interests in 3% or more of the nominal value of the Company's shares:

		Percentage
Shareholder	Shares	issued share
capital

Liontrust Asset Management	15,433,087	14.23%
Aberdeen Standard Investments	9,397,691	8.66%
Octopus Investments	8,438,391	7.78%
Blackrock	8,279,437	7.63%
Stephan & Rosamund Shakespeare	7,417,5561	6.84%
T Rowe Price Global Investments	7,305,896	6.74%
Investec Wealth & Investment	5,162,446	4.76%
Charles Stanley	4,170,708	3.84%
Kabouter Management	3,748,050	3.46%
Total	69,353,262	63.94%

1 Includes 559,404 Ordinary Shares held by Stephan Shakespeare's wife,
Rosamund Shakespeare.	93

YouGov Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Directors' Report continued

When calculating their percentage holdings in the Company, shareholders should use the issued share capital figure minus any shares held by the YouGov Employee Benefit Trust as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Group under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Shareholders are advised to refer to the Company's latest "Total Voting Rights" announcement which is available on the Regulatory News Service.

For more information on the YouGov Employee Benefit Trust, see the previous page under "Employee Benefit Trust".

Research and development The Group's research and development activities centre on the development of bespoke software solutions to support and advance our online capabilities. In 2020, £7.9m (2019: £4.8m) was capitalised and included within intangible fixed assets. Capitalised development is amortised to the income statement over a period of three years; the amortisation charge in respect of capitalised development costs was £4.6m (2019: £4.6m).

Charitable and political contributions Donations to charitable organisations amounted to £41,000 (2019: £95,000). This included a portion of an annual subscription of £100,000 (2019: £93,000) in respect of the YouGov-CambridgeProgramme, an academic partnership established with Cambridge University's Department of Politics and International Studies. The Company does not make political donations.

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Regulations ("SECR") disclosure

For the year ended 31 July 2020, YouGov plc met the criteria for reporting under SECR. You can read our SECR disclosure in full on page 53.

Going concern

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through its strong cash reserves. At 31 July 2020, the Group had a healthy liquidity position with £35.3m of cash and cash equivalents (see Note 16) and no debt financing commitments. The Group has net current assets of £17.4m and net assets of £109.3 as at 31 July 2020.

In assessing going concern, management has considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic including the impact on the Group's operations, budget for the year ended 30 July 2021 and forecast for 2022. The Group has not seen any significant slowdown in sales and has not furloughed any staff or sought extended payment terms

for its obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the business is discussed further in the Strategic Report and as part of the consideration of principal risks and uncertainties

on page 60. However, given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, severe downside scenarios have been modelled where revenue targets are missed by up to 30% due to reduced revenue from clients' delays and a slowdown in securing new business. Even in these scenarios the Group has strong liquidity, no external debt and many mitigating actions that would allow it to meet its financial liabilities as they fall due. These mitigating actions, should they be required, are all within management's control and could include reducing new recruitment, lowering commission or bonus payments, and reduced capital expenditure.

The Directors therefore have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Group therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its consolidated financial statements.

Fair, balanced and understandable statement

The Directors consider that the Annual Report & Accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group and Parent Company's position

and performance, business model and strategy.

Independent auditors

In accordance with section 418(2) of the Companies Act 2006, each of the Company's Directors in office as at the date of this report confirms that:

so far as the Directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Company's auditors are unaware; and
all steps have been taken as a Director in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company's auditors are aware of that information.

The Company's external auditors are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. A resolution to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors to the Company will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Annual General Meeting

The AGM of the Company will be held on 10 December 2020. The Notice of AGM can be found on page 166.

Tilly Heald Company Secretary By order of the Board 15 October 2020

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

Directors' Responsibilities Statement

Statement of Directors' responsibilities in respect of the financial statements

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulation.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the Group financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union and Parent Company financial statements in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union. Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Parent Company and of the profit or loss of the Group and Parent Company for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the Directors are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
state whether applicable IFRS as adopted by the European Union have been followed for the Group financial statements and IFRS as adopted by the European Union have been followed for the company financial statements, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and Parent Company will continue in business.

The Directors are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and Parent Company and hence

for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Group and Parent Company transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and Parent Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Parent Company's website. Legislation in

the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Alex McIntosh

Chief Financial Officer On behalf of the Board 15 October 2020

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of YouGov plc

Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Report on the audit of the financial statements

Opinion

In our opinion, YouGov plc's Group financial statements and Parent Company financial statements (the "financial statements"):

give a true and fair view of the state of the Group's and of the Parent Company's affairs as at 31 July 2020 and of the Group's profit and the Group's and the Parent Company's cash flows for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the
European Union and, as regards the Parent Company's financial statements, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We have audited the financial statements, included within the Annual Report and Accounts 2020 (the "Annual Report"), which comprise: the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Financial Position as at 31 July 2020; the Consolidated Income Statement, the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Cash Flows, and the Consolidated and Parent Company Statements of Changes in Equity for the year then ended; the Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements; and the notes to the Consolidated and Parent Company financial statements.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) ("ISAs (UK)") and applicable law. Our responsibilities under ISAs (UK) are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remained independent of the Group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, which includes the FRC's Ethical Standard, as applicable to listed entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

YouGov

Our audit approach Overview

Materiality

Audit scope

Key audit

matters

Overall Group materiality: £878,000 (2019: £950,000), based on 5% of profit before tax, adjusted for the non-recurring goodwill impairment charge.
Overall Parent Company materiality: £631,000 (2019: £422,000), based on 5% of profit before tax, adjusted for the non-recurring investment impairment charge.
The focus of the Group team's work was on the UK and US operations which were included as full scope components. The Middle East operation was also in full scope and we received reporting on the complete financial information of this unit from our
Middle East team. In addition, audit procedures were performed by the Group team over specific financial statement line items for the German, Nordics, Crunch, Services and
SMG operations.
Our testing accounted for 92% of profit before tax.
Capitalisation of development costs
Capitalisation of panel acquisition costs
Carrying value of goodwill and investments
Assessment of risks posed by COVID-19

Strategic report Governance report Financial statements Additional information

The scope of our audit

As part of designing our audit, we determined materiality and assessed the risks of material misstatement in the financial statements. In particular, we looked at where the directors made subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates that involved making assumptions and considering future events that are inherently uncertain. As in all of our audits we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including evaluating whether there was evidence of bias by the directors that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud.

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in the auditors' professional judgement, were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) identified by the auditors, including those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters, and any comments we make on the results of our procedures thereon, were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as

a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. This is not a complete list of all risks identified by our audit.

Key audit matter	How our audit addressed the key audit matter
Capitalisation of development costs	In completing our work over the capitalisation of development
Refer to Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated financial	costs, we performed the following procedures:
statements and Note 11.	― For a sample of projects, we assessed whether each of the
The Group incurs costs in developing survey, panel management	capitalisation criteria described in IAS 38 had been met and
and other platforms which are capitalised as intangible assets in	therefore whether capitalisation was appropriate. In doing
the statement of financial position. A total of £7.9m (2019: £4.8m)	so, we made inquiries of the Group's development team and
of internally developed intangible assets have been capitalised in	individual project leads. We obtained corroborating evidence
the year. In order to capitalise the costs as intangible assets, each	to support the fulfilment of the criteria for each project
of the criteria under IAS 38 'Intangible Assets' needs to be met.	we tested;
The reliable measurement of expenditure attributable to such	― Assessed the future economic benefits of the software,
development relies on the appropriate recording and accurate	considering its function within the business and link to the
measurement of, in particular, time incurred by the Group's	generation of revenues;
development team. We have focussed on this in our audit as the	― Tested a sample of internal costs to timesheets and
application of judgement is required in assessing whether the IAS
supporting payroll records and verified the allocation of
38 criteria have been met and determining the amounts to be
employee costs to the correct projects and external costs
capitalised requires estimation. This matter relates to the Group
to invoices; and
financial statements.
― Assessed the appropriateness of the useful economic lives

	determined by management.
	Based on the audit procedures performed, we are satisfied that
	the amounts capitalised appropriately reflect the requirements
	of IAS 38.
Capitalisation of panel acquisition costs	In completing our work over the capitalisation of panel acquisition
Refer to the Accounting Estimates and Judgements disclosure	costs we performed the following procedures:
within the Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated	― Challenged management to demonstrate the separability
Financial Statements and Note 11.	of the asset from the wider YouGov business, show that the
We focussed on this area because of the significant level of	costs are directly related to the acquisition of panellists and
judgement in determining whether the costs of panel acquisition	demonstrate the enhanced economic benefits that are linked
meet the criteria to be capitalised as a separately acquired	to the costs incurred;
intangible asset under IAS 38. £8.9m of panel acquisition costs	― Tested the costs incurred to supporting invoices and tested
were capitalised in the Consolidated financial statements in	whether the costs incurred result in the addition of members
the year (2019: £4.0m) and £1.6m was capitalised in the Parent	to the panel. We have also considered the nature of the costs
Company financial statements (2019: £1.0m)	subject to audit testing and whether they are permissible to
It is necessary to demonstrate that the asset is identifiable,	be capitalised under IAS 38;
under the control of YouGov plc and delivers future economic	― Reviewed management's plans for the panel and the linkage
benefits. We have also focussed on whether the ongoing	between the costs incurred and expansion into new sectors
capitalisation of costs associated with this asset is consistent with	and regions or the development of new products; and
IAS 38. This matter relates to the Group and Parent Company	― Assessed the appropriateness of the useful economic life
financial statements.
determined by management.

	Based on the audit procedures performed, we are satisfied that
	the amounts capitalised appropriately reflect the requirements
	of IAS 38.

2020 Accounts & Report Annual YouGov

Independent Auditors' Report to the Members of YouGov plc continued

Key audit matter

How our audit addressed the key audit matter

Annual Report & Accounts 2020

Carrying value of goodwill and investments

As stated in Note 10 to the Consolidated financial statements, management has estimated the recoverable amount for each Cash Generating Unit ("CGU") using a value-in-use model by projecting cash flows for the next three years together with a terminal value using a perpetuity growth rate.

The total amount of goodwill on the Group statement of financial position as at 31 July 2020 is £61.5m (2019: £65.6m). In the Parent Company statement of financial position investments in subsidiaries are held at a value of £55.1m (2019: £61.7m).

The directors performed an impairment assessment of the goodwill at Group level and the investments at a Parent Company level. This assessment was based on a value-in-use model which took into consideration the FY21 budget, which had been updated for COVID-19 considerations, and applied localised growth assumptions to determine FY22 and FY23 forecasts.

An impairment charge of £2.1m was recorded in respect of the Nordics CGU goodwill in the Consolidated financial statements.

As detailed in Note 36, there is a corresponding impairment in the carrying value of the investment in the Nordics business in the Parent Company financial statements of £4.0m.

The key assumptions in this assessment included forecast future revenue growth, discount rate and perpetuity growth rate.

This matter relates to the Group financial statements for impairment of goodwill and Parent Company financial statements for impairment of investments.

In our work over the impairment of goodwill and investments, we have performed the following procedures:

Tested the mathematical accuracy of the forecasts used for assessing the value of both goodwill and investments;
Agreed the forecasts used for impairment reviews to the management approved FY21 budget, FY22 and FY23 forecasts as adjusted for COVID-19 impacts;
Utilised valuation specialists to assess the discount rates and long term growth rates applied to management's forecasts;
Tested the allocation of assets and liabilities to cash- generating units ("CGUs");
Performed lookback testing by CGU to test historic forecasting accuracy and to verify historic achieved growth rates;
Used two external references to assess the reasonableness of management's growth forecast assumptions;
Reviewed management's sales pipeline and sales strategy and considered the feasibility of the resulting growth forecast; and
Reviewed management's sensitivity analysis to assess whether it was appropriate and performed our own sensitivity test to establish whether there were any further impairment risks.

Based on the audit procedures described above we agree with the value of goodwill and investment impairment charges taken for the Nordics CGU by management in the Group and Parent Company financial statements respectively. We did not identify any further impairment charges as a result of the procedures performed.

YouGov

Assessment of risks posed by COVID-19

Refer to the principal risks and uncertainties section of the Strategic Report, and the going concern disclosures in the Principal Accounting Policies of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Management has considered the potential impact of the events that have been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, on the current and future operations of the Group and Parent Company. The Group and Parent Company have an infrastructure that allows remote working without interruption to operations and the customer base continues to utilise the Group and Parent Company's services.

As at the statement of financial position date the Group has £35.3m of cash reserves (2019: £37.9m) and no debt finance. The Parent Company shows £9.2m of cash and cash equivalents. There has also been growth in revenues between the year ended 31 July 2019 and the year ended 31 July 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the trading performance to date, the operational capability to work remotely and the level of liquidity shown in cash flow forecasts management are confident that the Group and Parent Company will continue in business for the foreseeable future and has adopted the going concern basis in the financial statements. This matter relates to the Group and Parent Company financial statements.

In assessing the directors' consideration of the potential impact of COVID-19, we performed the following procedures:

We obtained from management its latest assessments that support the Board's assessment and conclusions with respect to the going concern statement;
Performed audit procedures over management's going concern assessment, including considering the consistency of the forecast and growth rates with impairment models, comparing the forecast to historic performance, validating the underlying cash flow projections for the Group to supporting documents where appropriate and performing sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of a shortfall against revenue forecasts;
Evaluated the completeness and appropriateness of management's disclosures in the financial statements related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
Assessed management's inclusion of the pandemic's impact in valuation assessments including impairment reviews and provisions against trade receivables.

Based on the results of the procedures performed and the information available at the date of the directors' approval of the financial statements we concur with the directors' assessment of the Group and Parent Company's ability to continue as a going concern and that management's disclosures are adequate.

We found that management had considered the impact of COVID-19 in performing impairment reviews and considered the valuation of receivables and had made appropriate disclosures in the financial statements.

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YouGov plc published this content on 10 November 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 23 November 2020 18:12:09 UTC

Market Closed - London S.E. Other stock markets 11:35:02 2024-05-14 am EDT			5-day change	1st Jan Change
856 ^GBX	+1.42%		+3.13%	-27.46%

May. 10	UBS raises Trainline, cuts Kingspan	AN
May. 07	YouGov Shifts Trading Platform on London Bourse's AIM	MT

value from	in integration of our
existing data	websites, apps, products,
― Opens up new	tools, interfaces
revenue streams for	and dashboards
Custom Research	― Further development of
using syndicated data	YouGov Crunch
	― Launch of brand and
	NPS® trackers, such as
	YouGov Recommend+,
	using connected
	research data systems

	Strategy		Measure
	in action		of success
		Multiple new
		connected data
Strategy in action	products launched
Using YouGov Recommend+	organically
See page 18

		Measure	2020/21 objectives
		of success


	― SMG Insight earn-out	― Continue to identify bolt-on acquisition targets
	ended ahead of schedule	that increase sector coverage, expand access
	as the business exceeded	to panel and advance technological capabilities
	its targets
― Average response rate of
	30% per YouGov Chat

Be fearless

Get it right

Trust each other

1	Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.
2	According to the ESOMAR Global Market Research Report published in September 2020,
	global research market turnover grew by 3.9% in 2019 (adjusted for inflation).	13

2 The EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA").	15

― 25 key client accounts	― Identify largest, multi-national clients in EU
identified in the US and	and Asia Pacific and extend key account
40 in the UK	management programme to those regions

― Data operations	― Build a global presence providing 24/7
overheads as a	client support to increase appeal of our self-
percentage of global	service offering and to support syndicated
revenue down from 4% in	data customers
2014/15 to 2% in 2019/20

1 For more details on the FYP2 financial targets see page 11.	25

£152.4m	£21.8m
2019: £136.5m	2019: £18.5m
	Definition	Definition

	1	For a five-year summary of financial KPIs refer to page 146 of the Financial Statements.
26	2	Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures on page 59.

12-month panel	Number of clients and
retention	avg. revenue per client

Operating cash	12-month panel	Number of clients
generation (£m)	retention (%)

	38.4	38.7	64	67	69	2,872	3,075	3,344

23.6
							44	46
						41

2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	July 2018	July 2019	July 2020	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20

US		23%
UK	21%

Sweden		17%
Mexico		61%
Singapore	39%
India		46%

US	41%
UK	39%
Sweden		51%
Mexico		36%
Singapore		81%
India		73%

12.7	13.5	14.3


10.9

15.0	18.1

	1st Jan change	Capi.
YOUGOV PLC	-27.46%	1.23B
FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC.	-28.16%	369M
INTAGE HOLDINGS INC.	-8.98%	362M
SYSTEM1 GROUP PLC	+56.95%	75.91M