Introducing Our Speakers
Rupesh Patel - Head of Insights at Samsung Electronics
Patel is an experienced research and insights leader, who carries a wealth of perspectives from his foundations at Kantar/ TNS, to multiple roles at Sky and his current position at Samsung Electronics - where he aims to empower sales and marketing teams with insight, research and analytics.
Georgina White - Director of Customer Insight at NatWest
White's focus as Director of Customer Insight is empowering teams to create brilliant outcomes for customers that drive commercial results. She is an experienced customer leader, having established teams and improving business performance for brands such as Holland and Barrett, BT/EE, British Gas, Hive, Capital One & Merrill Lynch. She has held roles In the UK and globally covering Insight, Data and Commercial within both B2C and B2B environments, plus sits on the Board of the MRS.
Liz Boffey - Director of Insight at Sainsbury's
Boffey is a ommercially astute senior insights leader with 25 years+ experience in market leading FMCG, food and retail companies. She has been recognised as a leader in her research function and recieved the prestigous Insight Management Academy Fellowship. As Director of Insight, Boffey is a strategic thinker - shaping functional vision, direction and the firm's agenda. She is also an ambassador for Working Options and mentor for The Princes Trust.
Jane Callingham - Director, Brand at BBC
Callingham is responsible for developing and implementing the BBC portfolio brand strategy, shaping the organisation's annual marketing plan, plus all pan-BBC marketing activity. Prior to joining the BBC, Callingham spent 10 years in advertising agencies and as a brand consultant planning campaigns for brands including the Evening Standard, TfL and Waitrose. Her career highlights include helping to secure the future of the BBC Royal Charter, and getting in the lift with Louis Theroux.
James Sallows - Global Marketing Effectiveness Director at The LEGO Group
With over 20 years of experience in media and market research, Sallows has a track record of growing and transforming teams by innovating with data, technology and talent development. His career has spanned senior positions at Kantar, Ipsos, Schlesinger Group, IPG Mediabrands and leading consumer health company Haleon.
Guillermo Fernandez - UK Consumer Insights Lead at eBay
Fernandez is an insights leader with twelve years' experience delivering impactful research at eBay, YouTube, and Ipsos. He excels at providing robust evidence to inform critical business questions, from protecting the licence to operate to growing Gen Z engagement. Fernandez regularly presents at C-suite forums and has successfully led international teams , delivering high-value projects on time and budget.
Ellie Osborne - Senior Insight Lead at Saga
Osborne is passionate about driving business change through actionable insights. Skilled across qualitative, social, and quantitative methods, she designs and leads complex, high-impact projects. She excels at stakeholder engagement, insight activation, and has spoken at ESOMAR and other major industry conferences.
Becci Toone - Group Research Manager at The Stars Group
Toone manages The Stars Group's international research team to enable the delivery of customer analysis and competitor intelligence to improve commercial performance within the i-gaming industry. She has previously held research and insight positions at Yorkshire Bank, Trinity McQueen and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Clare Woodward - Insight Manager at BT
Passionate about research, Woodward aims to making both our industry and the work we do more inclusive As an insight leader, in her work for BT and as the volunatry Head of Insight for now-u, she aims to bring out the best in her team and enable excellent work. Woodward is the author of the MRS Sampling, Methods and Language EDI Best Practices guides, plus Chair of the MRS New and Returning Talent working group.
Martyn Cripps - Customer Research Manager at Coventry Building Society
Cripps is an experienced researcher who has built and managed numerous customer insight functions, managed high profile Consumer Duty projects to ensure FCA compliance, launched successful customer experience tracking studies and led group wide segmentation programmes.
Jane Frost CBE - CEO at Market Research Society
Frost holds over 150 awards for creativity and brand marketing, including a double platinum disc for the BBCs Perfect Day which also raised over £2.5m for Children in Need. A classically trained marketer, Frost is currently the CEO of the MRS. She has held many NED positions and trusteeships and is currently co-chair of the Tiffany Circle of the Red Cross, vice chair of the Fairtrade Foundation and a trustee of the Lowry Centre.
Dr Alan Gilchrist - Associate Professor at Lancaster University Management School
Using ethnographic approaches, Dr Gilchrist helps both research and practitioner communities alike comprehend and understand complex organisational strategising. His research on leadership, managerial sense-making and researcher motivation has been published in leading journals such as the British Journal of Management, Industrial Marketing Management and European Journal of Management.
Charlotte Vicary - Founding Director at The Customer Closeness Company
Vicary is a co-founder of The Customer Closeness Company, AURA’s double-winning Best Small Agency of the Year. Her professional mission is to help businesses grow by improving customer lives. Closing the gap between people in business and their customers is central to this, and she works with clients like BT, Twinings and NatWest to do just that. In 2022, her collaboration with BT Insight won AURA’s coveted Insight Impact award.
Iosetta Santini - Account Director at Keen as Mustard Marketing
Santini is a creative and enthusiastic professional in the B2B marketing industry. With a decade of experience, she has supported international clients across multiple sectors, and knows how to transform complex messages into engaging stories. She contributes to Greenbook, presents at international events, and has been shortlisted for prestigious industry awards, including the Greenbook Future List and Significant Insights’ 30 under 30.
Gerardo Mazzeo - CEO of The Innovation Kitchen
With over 30 years of marketing experience, Mazzeo has worked extensively with Kraft and in senior leadership positions in Nestle. As a core member of the Global Marketing Team, and in the role of Global Innovation Director, he supported capability building ia “Brand Building the Nestle Way” (BBNW). Mazzeo's consultancy, The Innovation Kitchen, is a trusted partner of PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, Weetabix and a variety of food tech startups.
Judy Taylor - Managing Director of ConsultJMT
Taylor is a seasoned qualitative researcher and strategic planner with over 30 years of experience. She founded and led a 50-person full-service agency with offices in the UK and USA. Now, Taylor serves as a NED, consultant, and advisor to start-ups, specialising in communications and strategy. She is also a trusted C-suite facilitator, industry trainer, and global brand strategist, bringing deep expertise in insight-driven decision-making.
Chris Harvey - Founder of Activate Research
Harvey is Founder of Activate Research, which helps drive organisational growth using behavioural science. He is passionate about combining his 15+ years’ research industry experience with the latest behavioural science learnings from academia to help organisations maximise value from primary and existing research. He has an MSc (Distinction) in Behavioural Science and is a regular workshop trainer for the Market Research Society.
Danny Russell - Non-Executive Advisor at FlexMR
An insight industry veteran, Russell is the former Marketing Strategy Director at Sky, who has held senior positions at Boots, Kraft Foods, British Airways, PaddyPower and O2 Telefonica. Since founding a consultancy in 2015, he has worked with a range of consumer businesses, including 21st Century Fox, The Economist, Ladbrokes, Metro Bank, Vodafone and Zwift.
Paul Hudson - Founder & CEO at FlexMR
Hudson is an experienced insight leader, working at the intersection of technology and service to drive customer insight into every decision. He has worked with global brands to build effective and impactful research programs that take advantage of cutting edge technology and the latest in strategic thinking.
