Established in 2000, East Anglia-based CMR conducts quantitative and qualitative research for medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.

Ashford (pictured) joined the company in 2010 and the management buyout (MBO) began in 2014.

The company said it has maintained steady growth despite financial and legal restraints of the MBO. In the last 18 months, Hayley Algar, Alper Hulusi and Lucy Little have been appointed company directors, while Matt Bowles was promoted to associate director earlier in 2019. 

Ashford said: “The end of the MBO means we can now start to invest in the business to the level we’ve always intended. We have some exciting plans for the coming year such as the team’s continued growth and development, as well as concentrating on innovations within our field and investing in sophisticated technology and tools. We’ve been increasingly involved in research around connected devices and artificial intelligence and that’s an exciting area we’d like to push further into.”