The new venture, LeGo Research, aims to be a “small, smart” company priding itself on tailor-made solutions and independence, Goedeke said. He is currently the only full-time researcher on staff but will be tapping into a network of partners in Germany and internationally.

Goedeke told Research he has no ambition for LeGo to employ hundreds of people, but plans for the head count to grow to 15 to 20 in the next couple of years. The firm will focus on the service and financial services sectors, conducting research in areas including customer management, brand and communications and pricing and products.

LeGo’s first client is the Hamburger Sparkasse bank, for which Goedeke is conducting strategic research focusing on product management, branding and communications.

Goedeke was deputy managing director of Roland Berger Market Research, which was acquired by Synovate in 2005, and went on to hold several senior roles at Synovate, including global account director and managing director of the agency’s Danish business. He has also worked at Ipsos, GfK and commercial bank WestLB.