Ascential started out over 130 years ago as EMAP, a British newspaper group; now it reigns supreme as a specialist information, data and analytics company, operating from more than 30 offices around the world. It helps brands and e-commerce platforms to thrive in a digital economy. It has a demonstrated talent for strategic growth, constantly strengthening its geographic and technological coverage. The company was an early adopter of e-commerce and has made substantial investments to solidify its presence. In 2012, Ascential invested £37m in a transformation programme to develop world-class sales and marketing platforms with strong product and content creation. Ascential deploys global teams, with hundreds of analysts from China to the US. It has assembled experts to scale-up the processing of big data and has served the top 10 merchants on Amazon over the past four years, boosting turnover from £300m to tens of billions. Ascential is the only company in the world that can show real-time trading across eight platforms. It’s a meticulously controlled organisation with a strong tech infrastructure and a knack for innovation. It often beats competitors to market — and helps its clients to do the same. The global pandemic has pushed the company to execute 10 years of market transition strategies in just 10 weeks. Not a problem for this responsive and tech-competent company — and new launches are anticipated by September. The CFI.co judging panel congratulates Ascential, winner of the 2020 award for Best Global Digital Growth Solutions (UK).