Thatcher (pictured, left) joins MEL Research as qualitative research director, with a background in social and market research and a particular focus on sectors including health and wellbeing, sports, money and debt, arts and culture, older people’s issues, utilities, the environment and climate change.

Thatcher worked in government social research at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), where he oversaw national household surveys, before moving to research and evaluation in the charity sector. Since 2019, he has held various roles within research agencies – most recently, Accent MR.

The company has also appointed Higginson (pictured, right) as research manager. Higginson has spent two decades in market research, working with both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

Higginson was previously research manager at Adelphi, and before that worked at DJS Research for 11 years. Her experience includes research on sensitive topics, including: victims of serious crime; individuals with longer term health conditions; and those with  diverse backgrounds.

Karen Etheridge, managing director, MEL Research, said:“Both Ben and Gayle bring expertise which further strengthens our offer in our core space, but also provide opportunities to support some of our growing work around the utilities, debt and physical activity spaces.”