John is the Joint Founder and Managing Director of Oakham Research. As a full member of both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Market Research Society, John has the ability to combine professional research techniques with a commercial and practical approach. Having completed his MBA at Aston University in 1995 he has since undertaken a number of research related roles which provide him with a depth of practical research and consultancy knowledge.
John has recently presented to students at Aston University, Cardiff University and Solihull College on the practicalities and methods of undertaking Market Research projects. John is a Member of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and is Vice Chairman of the Black Country Branch and serves on West Midlands Regional Committee.
Working for Staffordshire Building Society as Research Officer and Barclaycard Merchant Services, John understands research within the financial services market. He has also undertaken projects for regional building societies, insurance companies and finance organisations.
Having set up and managed the Customer Satisfaction Programme (CSI) for Audi UK and also managed the Renault UK customer satisfaction research, John has an enviable wider track record within the automotive sector. His clientside experience with Halfords Limited is further enhanced by project managing mystery shopping projects for SEAT UK and Audi UK.
John has been responsible for a wide range of public sector consultations. Examples of projects include setting up the Bury Council Citizens’ Panel and Glasgow Housing Association Tenants Satisfaction research while at Lorien Research.
Working for Staples Europe Direct, John was responsible for understanding and developing the customer relationship model behind the direct mail campaigns. His work for research agencies has covered the customer journey for a range of high street organisations in the retail sector.
Ursula is responsible for the running of the Oakham Research office. In addition to her administative duties, Ursula assists with research projects and planning.