YouGov has pioneered internet polling on a big scale. We have a panel of a quarter of a million adults who take part in our surveys and in 2007 we did two million interviews online.

People in the streets will best know YouGov from our political polling—things such as the mayoral and general elections, both of which we got right.

We have a reputation for accuracy and I think it has a lot to do with the way we do polls. When you do a research piece online, especially if it is controversial or contentious, the people who take part haven't got someone in the room with them or on the end of the phone who they think want them to answer in a certain way. People can be themselves in the privacy of their own home.

YouGov has changed hugely since it started with three people in 2000. It now has a turnover of £40m and employs more than 400 people globally.

Where YouGov has traditionally been known as a supplier of data, we now tell customers what their data means. We call it Greater Insight, but really it is interpreting information and using it.

There is a thirst for better information about the consumers and the people on the receiving end of government policies. It is a competitive world out there and you need to know about the people you are looking to serve or [from whom] you want to buy your goods.

Most opinion polls were saying that Ken Livingstone would win the mayoral election or that it was an even race. We said for weeks before that it would be a big Tory win. Livingstone said our polls were so wrong that he was going to report us to the Market Research Society.

Society has changed enormously over the past eight years. We are all more affluent than we were. Today more people own shares than are members of a union.

The one thing that hasn't changed in Britain is that there is still the unrecognised problem of poverty, with one in five adults on the poverty line. I think today you can own a high-definition TV and still be poor.

In 30 years' time we are going to have about 15 million pensioners. At the moment we have 9 million and that is an incredible rise. There is going to be a huge demand on things such as the health service and social care and we are not prepared for that.

The challenge for business is to realise that there is mileage in the grey workforce. We might need to get rid of statutory retirement ages because it is not going to make much sense for someone to retire at 65 or 70 if they are living healthy lifestyles well in to their late seventies or early eighties.

Businesses will have to look at how they market their goods and services. Currently 45- to 60-year-olds account for over 70 per cent of wealth. As they get older, they will account for over 80 per cent of wealth. Businesses will have to ask themselves if a 25-year-old advertising executive really understands the thoughts and needs of an older generation.