The FT Research Centre, which has offered high-level companies and markets research to private clients for nearly 40 years, is to be closed down next year, IWR has learned.

The Financial Times said it had decided to wind up the global research service in 2008 for “strategic” reasons.

The Pearson-owned newspaper said it was too early to say what would happen to the centre’s 12 members of staff.

The FT Research Centre was set up in 1969 to offer data and analysis tailored to the needs of those in the business sector, including tracking down key corporate facts, profiling rivals and researching emerging sectors.

The FT said in a statement: “Despite the very high quality of research provided by the team, we have made the decision to close the FT Research Centre in 2008 in order to focus on our more profitable ventures and new acquisitions which are more in line with our global strategy.”

A spokesman declined to comment on any acquisitions.

Asked whether the centre was unprofitable, he told IWR: “It’s fair to say it would have required significant investment to turn it into a more profitable business. That’s why the decision has been made.”

He denied the decision had anything to do with the takeover of the FT’s main rival, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), by News Corporation.

The FT has been under pressure since the announcement of the $5bn takeover of WSJ owner Dow Jones, which was expected to be agreed by shareholders in mid-December.

The closure of the FT Research Centre is the latest in a string of changes at the newspaper.

In October, the FT decided to give readers free access to its website, ending five years of subscription-only business news.

The move came in response to plans to make WSJ’s successful subscription website, wsj.com, which already attracts 2.6 million visitors a month, free to access.
www.ft.com/research