A FLOURISHING Bury company is challenging the old adage that it costs nothing to give your opinion.

For Real List is offering the chance to local people to express their views and get paid for them!

The business, set up by market researcher Jacqueline Feasey and Prestwich advertising executive Katherine Thomas-Wilson, is giving people the opportunity to say what they think about new products and services. And they can get paid up to £50 for their time and trouble.

And the company, located on The Rock, Bury, is encouraging interviewees' friends and family to register their interest, offering £15 for every 20 valid names.

Katherine and Jacqueline have already attracted such major companies as Sainsbury's and Kelloggs into the town to hear what local people have to say.

Jacqueline said: "People's time is valuable and that is why we will pay them for their time. And most find it interesting to be able to give their opinion."

Real List can draw on a database of 300 people of all ages and from all walks of life. Usually the interviews, which can last up to 90 minutes, involve a group of eight who are quizzed by researchers.

Katherine, of Guest Road, Prestwich, explained: "I am passionate about Bury and the need for local people to express their opinion. I think that in the past, Bury has been a very under-researched area." The opinions of ordinary members of the public are crucial to companies anxious to launch a new product or to gather feedback on advertising campaigns and marketing ploys.

She added: "We've had people here who have been sampling breakfast cereals, looking at commercials and expressing their opinions about shampoo packaging."

The more people Real List can bring in for such interviews, the more companies they can attract to Bury for research purposes. In order to take part, people complete a short registration form and wait to be invited to a group discussion at the Talking Shop, the Real List's offices on The Rock. Katherine has already been in touch with schools, mothers and toddlers groups and over 50s clubs to help boost the company's database. And the names-for-cash scheme is also generating a positive response. Already, schools and clubs have signed up in order to fund raise, as well as hundreds of individuals.

Stressed Katherine: "Big companies undertaking public research need the truth. We can provide them with the people who can articulate their thoughts."

Anyone who would like to register on the database and be paid for their opinions can contact Katherine on (0161) 763 6337 or e-mail ktw@therealist.co.uk instead.