Royal Mail Group shakes up research structure (UK)
Royal Mail Group is dissolving its centralised research and insight function in favour of dedicated teams for each of its main brands: Royal Mail, Post Office and Parcelforce.
Crispin Beale, who led the Centre for Customer Insight & Competitor Intelligence as Director of Insight, Intelligence and Analysis, is to leave the company at the end of the month.
Sinead Jefferies will lead Royal Mail’s business intelligence team, with responsibility for research, insight, competitor and marketing intelligence.
A decision is still to be made on who will head up the Post Office research team, Beale said.
Dick Stead, Sales and Marketing Director for Parcelforce, will oversee research for that brand.
The restructure is not expected to lead to the scrapping of the 32-agency insight and analysis roster, which was appointed earlier this year to stand for a four-year period.
Beale said: “Different parts of the organisation have different research needs which need different skill sets, but all of those skill sets exist within the roster. I would envisage that the group will carry on working with that roster and won’t be needing to change it.”
Royal Mail Group is dissolving its centralised research and insight function in favour of dedicated teams for each of its main brands: Royal Mail, Post Office and Parcelforce.
Crispin Beale, who led the Centre for Customer Insight & Competitor Intelligence as director of insight, intelligence and analysis, is to leave the company at the end of the month.
His was a group-wide position and as such it has been axed in line with the new setup. “I was offered my choice of roles in the new structure, but now is the time to leave,” he said. “It’s an ideal time to go.”
Beale is to take up the post of chief executive at Facts International on 6 October. The company is part of the research division of PR group Chime, sitting alongside Opinion Leader, Ledbury Research and Naked Eye.
He said the field and tab firm had doubled its turnover since being bought out in February last year by Chime, working in partnership with private investor Nick Lamb.
Lamb is Facts’ chairman and Beale joins the firm following the departure of managing director Linda Marsh.
Beale began his career as a consultant and accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers before becoming head of research and customer action at Dixons Stores Group and then head of customer satisfaction and competitor intelligence at BT.
He said: “Coming off so many years on the client side its nice to go back and help a whole range of companies and clients.
“Quality fieldwork is the foundation of good insights. We’ve all heard the stories of houses built on sand and exactly the same is true with insight generation.”
Back at the Royal Mail Group, Sinead Jefferies will lead Royal Mail’s business intelligence team, with responsibility for research, insight, competitor and marketing intelligence.
A decision is still to be made on who will head up the Post Office research team, Beale said.
Dick Stead, sales and marketing director for Parcelforce, will oversee research for that brand.
The restructure is not expected to lead to the scrapping of the 32-agency insight and analysis roster, which was appointed earlier this year to stand for a four-year period.
Beale said: “Different parts of the organisation have different research needs which need different skill sets, but all of those skill sets exist within the roster. I would envisage that the group will carry on working with that roster and won’t be needing to change it.”
