Which organisation keeps the most up-to-date data on the habits and behaviour of consumers? The Treasury? The police? Google, maybe?

No, it is Dunnhumby, the company that created the science behind Tesco’s Clubcard, which has tracked the shopping preferences of up to 13 million British families for more than a decade.

Now Dunnhumby, led by its chief executive Edwina Dunn, 49, is set to work out which of Tesco’s 60 million shoppers are fast-food junkies and which are fine-food connoisseurs.

Dunnhumby’s partnership with Tesco is being rolled out to nine countries in which Tesco operates over the coming months, including South Korea, China and Hungary.

Analysts say that Clubcard, which utilises Dunnhumby’s database, has been Tesco’s most potent weapon in the increasingly tough battle for market share, keeping it well ahead of rivals such as J Sainsbury and Asda. That weapon will now have global reach.

Mrs Dunn and her partner Clive Humby came up with the idea for the company while working for CACI, the market analysis company, in the mid1980s.

Their business took off when they forged links with Tesco in 1994. The retailer’s board, led by former chairman Lord MacLaurin, were astonished to find that the loyalty card increased sales at one store that it was trialled at by 12 per cent. From that moment on, Tesco committed itself to Dunnhumby and the Clubcard, and neither company has looked back since.

When it was first linked with Tesco, Dunnhumby was only five years old and had an annual turnover of £750,000. Mrs Dunn, and Mr Humby have since earned millions after selling stakes in the business to the retailer. Tesco increased its stake in Dunnhumby from 53 per cent to 84 per cent in May 2006 for a sum in the millions.

In the 15 years since it began, Dunnhumby has prided itself on becoming the world’s leading “customer relationship marketing specialist”. The company has professed to wanting to become a “$1 billion business”, and it now has global clients including P&G, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Vodafone and Home Depot.

Last month, Dunnhumby made it on to the Sunday Times’s 100 Best Companies To Work For list. On the list of company benefits is a “treat yourself” staff allowance of £315 a year to spend on perks such as hotel rooms or massages.

It seems that when retaining the loyalty of your staff, every little helps.

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