People

James graduated from the University of Leeds with a 2.1 honours degree in English Language and Literature. After finishing his degree, James then spent a year teaching English in Poland before returning to England and entering the market research industry.

James began his career in market research in 1998. He started out at Foodservice Intelligence, providing research to clients in the hotel, restaurant and catering sectors and working with a broad range of major food and beverage manufacturers. James then moved on to Synovate, where he broadened his sectoral and methodological experience working in their full service research department. Finally, James left Synovate to set up OMB Research in 2004.

James has managed a wide variety of different projects spanning all of the key quantitative methodologies, and has strong cross-sector experience – with particular expertise in public sector evaluations. At present James heads up the OMB team that delivers the UKTI PIMS research and the LDA CompeteFor Evaluations. As well as having strong all-round research skills, James excels in both the written and oral communication of research results. He is an Associate member of the Market Research Society.

Gemma has worked in research since 1995 and has a wealth of experience on both the agency and client sides, including invaluable experience ‘at the sharp edge’ as a face-to-face interviewer. She is a graduate of the University of Kent, where she achieved a 1st class honours degree in Management Science and Computing.

After graduating, Gemma took up a Statistical Analyst position at Kent Police, which provided her with invaluable experience of both statistical techniques and research techniques. Gemma then joined Synovate to work in their full-service research team, gaining a wealth of research experience across a broad range of sectors and methodologies. Gemma then left Synovate in 2004 to set up OMB Research.

Gemma has managed a wide range of research projects and developed particular expertise in the public and financial sectors as well as in the field of communications research. Gemmas experience covers the full spectrum of research methodologies although her key skills lie with complex quantitative evaluations. In addition to being an extremely strong researcher, Gemma has a natural talent for project management, which she combines with excellent people skills. It is these skills which make her such an asset to OMB Research and its clients. Gemma is an Associate member of the Market Research Society.

Michael is a Sports & Exercise Science graduate, gaining a 2.1 honours degree from the University of Birmingham in 2007. Having become interested in a career in research whilst studying for his degree, Michael joined the OMB full service team shortly after completing his studies.

He quickly became a valued member of the team, and is a strong all round researcher with significant experience of questionnaire design, analysis, reporting and project management. He is now lead researcher on the on-going UKTI PIMS Follow-Up research, and was also the project manager for the Broker Network Brand Tracking research. Michael has excelled across the board, but is particularly adept at dealing with large and complex research studies.

Michael is a keen sportsman, and previously captained Canterbury in the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division. He is an Affiliate member of the Market Research Society.

Hannah is a Psychology graduate, gaining a 2.1 honours degree from The University of Portsmouth in 2010 followed by a Masters degree in Occupational & Organisational Psychology from the University of Surrey in 2011. Both degrees included a number of modules involving both quantitative and qualitative research elements, which led to her becoming interested in a career in research.

Hannah joined the OMB Research team in January 2012 and is already showing great promise as a researcher having been involved in a number of projects for clients such as UK Trade and Investment and Roche. She is an Associate member of the Market Research Society.

Stephanie is the newest member of the OMB team, having recently joined the company after completing an MSc in Social & Applied Psychology (achieving a distinction). She also holds a first class degree in Psychology from the University of Kent.