"To all contacts who are MRS members - I’m standing for re-election to the MRS Council. The election is hotly contested, so, really grateful if you could log on and vote for me (you should have been sent an e-mail last week by onlinevoting@electoralreform.co.uk).

I’m keen to represent you within the industry and make sure that as an industry we continue to champion customers and get insight at the heart of business decision making."

Crispin Beale, CEO of Chime Insight and Engagement

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Opinion Leader, the London-based research agency that forms part of Chime Communications Plc, today announced it has won a new project with the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) to explore the role of the coach in recreational sports settings.

The news comes off the back of a number of recent wins for Opinion Leader – which is led by CEO Crispin Beale and Director, Sinéad Jefferies – including, the BBC, Thames Water and BSI.

This study will aim to explore the expectations that informal sports players have for their sports coach, and better understand how sport can deliver informal sports sessions to attract and retain this market. The research will involve focus groups amongst individuals who take part in three different types of sport: football, badminton and athletics. Interviews will also be conducted with the coaches themselves to explore their thoughts on what they consider participants expect from them, and what type of support and guidance they require to deliver this effectively.

Annabel Kehoe, Sports Partnership manager at WSFF, commented: “We were delighted with the creative ideas and approach recommended by Opinion Leader. This is an important project for WSFF as we want to better understand the expectations and needs of entrant level participants in sports. We have a good relationship with Opinion Leader and are looking forward to working with their team on this project.”

Sinéad Jefferies, Director at Opinion Leader, commented: “We are delighted to be working with WSFF on this exciting project. Our sports research capabilities are very strong, especially with the experience we can draw upon from the wider Chime Group, and we really have a unique offering to help our clients to explore the benefits of sport and gain a deeper understanding of its value in society.”

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CIE, Chime’s Insight and Engagement Group, today announced the appointment of Pam Clark, a seasoned client-side research professional who joins Opinion Leader as a Research Director. She will further strengthen the large quantitative Financial Services Practice at the Division with her specialism in customer experience.

Clark brings a wealth of knowledge to the Group, having most recently worked at Post Office Ltd where she held a number of senior positions including Head of Customer Strategy, a role that included customer segmentation, complaints monitoring, and market & competitor intelligence. Prior to this, she held key positions at PwC and Midland Bank/HSBC.

Clark is a strategic communications expert and in addition to her research expertise, has a particular strength in financial services expertise gained through her accounting and corporate finance background.

Crispin Beale, Chief Executive of CIE, commented, “CIE is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and expansion, and we need best-in-class people to help deliver expertise to our broad range of clients. Pam’s background and experience – in particular her strength in financial services and customer experience - is a great fit with the business. She is an extremely talented individual and we’re delighted to have her on board”.

Clark commented on the appointment: “I am very excited by the prospect of joining CIE and using my experience to help some of the world’s leading brands. It’s great to be part of a growing business that is already exceeding expectations in this tough economical climate, and I look forward to working with Crispin and the team”.

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Opinion Leader, the London based research agency that forms part of Chime Communications Plc, today announced they have successfully won Prudential’s prestigious Brand Tracking Survey.

Prudential commissioned the newly restructured research agency - run by former Royal Mail Director, Crispin Beale - to help maintain Prudential’s established reputation and generate new business opportunities. The study will examine how Prudential differentiates itself in the retirement savings and income markets, and will help identify opportunities to further grow the Prudential brand.

The project, which is due to commence next month, will use various mapping tools, online tracker and tactical dips.

Deborah Webb, Head of Market and Competitor research at Prudential, commented, “Opinion Leader’s approach to this project perfectly mirrored our requirements, and their expertise and understanding of financial services they offered made them stand out against other agencies. We are very pleased to be working with Opinion Leader and look forward to receiving their insightful findings”.

Sinéad Jefferies, Director at Opinion Leader, commented, “This is a very exciting win for the Research & Engagement Division. Our teams have a vast amount of expertise in brand tracking studies, and commercial thinking from our people with client side experience means we will be able to add some real value to the findings. We have spent a long time recruiting the best people for our business, and I am pleased that our strategy is now paying dividends and taking Opinion Leader to even greater levels of success”.

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CIE, Chimes Insight and Engagement Group, today announced the appointment of four new individuals to the team including Tricia Whitby, who joins as a Research Director specialising in customer satisfaction measurement.

Since CEO Crispin Beale was appointed to lead the Group in April last year, turnover has significantly increased and the business been rewarded with a number of significant new client wins.

Whitby brings a wealth of knowledge to the Division, having most recently worked at BT where she was Head of Continuous Research with a responsibility for providing insights from existing research and commissioning new research to support the development of marketing strategies for consumer markets. Prior to this, she was the Head of Market Research at Dixons Stores Group where she also headed up the customer action function. Whitby is a customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy expert and also brings with her extensive experience from her position as CRM Consultant at Wunderman, part of Young & Rubican. Prior to this she was at Unipart.

The Group has also appointed Francesca Kemp as a Senior Consultant to strengthen the HR team. Kemp has over 10 years experience in HR and has worked across a number of sectors including PR, automotive and IT. She joins the company in June and will be based at the Kent office, and will be responsible for further recruitment as the Division continues to grow. She is joined by two new Research Executives, Nicola Blythe and Emily Burn.

Crispin Beale, Chief Executive of CIE, commented, We are delighted to welcome Tricia to our team. CIE has seen a number of significant new client wins in the past few weeks, and while the business continues to grow and prosper we need best-in-class individuals like Tricia to spearhead our expansion. I am extremely confident that Tricia will become a valued member of the Opinion Leader team, as well as the wider Division.

Whitby commented on her appointment, I am very excited by the prospect of joining CIE, being involved not only in the development of new products and initiatives including the Trust Accelerator, but also assisting on some of their high profile recent client wins. I am confident that we will develop some fantastic work that will become flagship products for the Group.

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The Research & Engagement Division of Chime Communications plc today announced five new appointments across the company to help manage a number of significant new clients wins for 2011.

Rosy Goodrick, Winston Chesterfield and Laurence Palfreyman have joined the London-based offices of Opinion Leader, and Caroline Holman and David Winstone have joined Facts International based in Kent.

Following positive financial results released by Chime in the autumn, the Division is continuing to build its team and capabilities, and this latest raft of appointments further demonstrates the success that the Division has been enjoying despite limited growth in the market.

Crispin Beale, Chief Executive of The Research & Engagement Division, commented, “These latest appointments are another big step forward for the Division. We have spent a long time securing the right people to join our growing company and, as a result, we are seeing the fruits of our labour with a string of new client and exceptional commercial success predicated for 2011”.

Holman joins the business as Associate Director having previously worked client side at Givaudan and Quest International. She brings to the business a wealth of knowledge including 16-years experience of managing large-scale FMCG accounts, as well as brand tracking and business-to-business research expertise.

Goodrick joins the Division from Royal Mail where she was a member of the Insight Team taking responsibility for their customer satisfaction programme and online panel community, which recently won an MRS business-to-business award. Prior to this, she worked for Red Bull UK where she was responsible for their event evaluation study, as well as workshop sessions to generate new ideas for event and communications activity. Goodrick has also worked client-side at Save the Children.

Chesterfield previously worked at Opinion Leader as a Consultant, and has now joined the business in a full time capacity. He will use his research skills and insight to help relaunch the new and expanded Opinion Leader panel.

Winstone joins Facts International as Insight Executive. He holds an MSc in Spacial Planning from the University College of London and will join the team at Facts International, helping to manage a number of key automotive and retail accounts.

Palfreyman has joined Opinion Leader having graduating with a BSc in Experimental Psychology from the University of Bristol. He will be assisting the Social Research and Financial teams to manage a number of large-scale clients.

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Opinion Leader, part of the Research & Engagement Division of Chime Communications plc, today announced the appointment of Henna Ali as a specialist Health Research Consultant. She joins the business in January.

Ali joins Opinion Leader from NHS South West Essex where she was Health Improvement Commissioning Manager. She boasts significant experience in managing large scale research projects and also has expertise in branding, advertising, social marketing and consumer insight.

This is the latest appointment from the Research & Engagement Division of Chime – headed up by CEO Crispin Beale - that, in recent weeks, has included senior appointments from client and agency side companies alike. This appointment will further bolster Opinion Leader’s significant expertise in health research - the business is currently working with a number of Health Authorities and private sector health companies, both in the UK and overseas, conducting projects that include deliberative events, focus groups and quantitative surveys.

Sinéad Jefferies, Director at Opinion Leader, commented “We are delighted to welcome Henna to the team. Her relevant client-side experience coupled with her first hand insight into the NHS - and in particular her behaviour change expertise - will really help us to continue to improve our health offering to clients. Henna is a very talented individual and we are looking forward to the value she will add to our already strong health team”.

Commenting on her appointment, Ali said, “I’m delighted to join a company that offers clients such a high level of health research expertise; this will give me the opportunity to further hone my skills, whilst also complementing the existing team at Opinion Leader”.

Henna graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Psychology and holds a Doctorate in Health Psychology. She is also a visiting lecturer on social marketing for City and Middlesex Universities.

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Opinion Leader, part of the Research & Engagement Division of Chime, today announced the appointment of Lynne Tinsley who is joining the company from FDS international in the role of Senior Research Executive.

Tinsley is the most recent hire in a long line of senior appointments that has seen key individuals in client-side and agency positions alike poached by the Division. Earlier this year Crispin Beale, CEO of The Research & Engagement Division of Chime, pledged to hire the brightest and the best from the Industry to build a Super Team that would deliver world class research to clients; this appointment is the latest in his delivery of this pledge.

Sinéad Jefferies, Director at Opinion Leader, commented, “I am thrilled to welcome Lynne to Opinion Leader. I am sure that with her valuable experience across both qualitative and quantitative research she will be a key member of our Division, as well as our Research team.”

Tinsley commented on her appointment, “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Opinion Leader at this critical time of change and am looking forward to delivering some fantastic research on their behalf”.

Tinsley was responsible for a number of significant projects at FDS, operating across both the consumer and public sectors; at Opinion Leader she will initially be responsible for a major utilities client. Prior to working at FDS International, Tinsley worked as a Research Project Manager for Schoolzone.co.uk where she gained extensive fieldwork experience including the facilitation of focus groups and depth interviews.

Tinsley graduated from the University of Bristol with a 2:1 in politics and has since gone on to complete the Advanced Certificate in Marketing and Social Research. More recently she completed an Ethnography master’s module with the Open University.

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