Meet our Regional Managers
Our Regional Managers are volunteers who devote their time to providing help and support to others experiencing financial distress from across our industry. Often more importantly, they provide reassurance that there is a person within the MRBA organisation who is prepared to listen, offer ‘a shoulder to cry on’, and give some basic advice as well.
Delphine Anderson (Yorkshire and Midlands)
I started as an interviewer with MAS Survey Research, working up to becoming a Regional Manager for them in the late 1970s. I enjoyed immensely the work and especially the people and I know the problems interviewers can face. In 1990 I moved to NatCen continuing in the role of Regional Manager until I retired in 1998 though still continuing to work as a recruiter and trainer.
This has given me an insight into the work of people involved in the industry and the possible problems arising which is why I feel privileged to work for MRBA. My experience has given me empathy into their problems and, possibly through visiting and talking with the case applicants, a way for the Committee to help alleviate their problems.
Kathleen Hamilton (North of England and Scotland)
I’ve been helping research colleagues on behalf of MRBA for over 20 years now. I was originally an interviewer and then set up on my own as a freelancer in 1996. I just love working with and meeting new people. Building a rapport and getting to know each person who needs help in my area is important to me. I try to make the applicant feel comfortable and secure while stressing the MRBA wants to help, not judge.
Mary Haynes (Northwest and North Wales)
I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years and have firsthand experience working with the field force at a number of different organisations having spent the last fifteen years in charge of a large number of interviewers. I understand the nature of their work and some of the circumstances they sometimes find themselves in. Although I’m now retired, I still feel I have a ‘duty’ to them. Working for MRBA now is my way of putting something back.
Valerie Kirkin (South West England & South Wales)
I began interviewing for NatCen and the Office for National Statistics in 1982 and gained valuable experience in social research fieldwork across the country. I progressed to the role of NatCen Area Manager for NE London and East Anglia in 2000 and, over the following twelve years, developed my HR skills and became more familiar with the breadth of difficulties experienced by interviewers and research staff.
Since 2012, through my volunteering with Citizens Advice and Samaritans, I’ve worked with, and been able to empathise with those facing the most serious challenges, and am now delighted to have the opportunity to assist others through the MRBA.
Stacey Charlesworth
I started as a telephone interviewer in 1982, and have since had many roles, mainly in telephone centres but have also managed a face to face field force. I’m currently Head of Operations at Kudos Research.
I know what a dedicated and diverse group of people work in MR and am very pleased to be able to help the MRBA with their valuable work, supporting people in our industry when they are in most need.
Sue Curtis
I first worked as an interviewer when a student in Bristol in 1971, interviewing about restricting smoking to the rear of buses – how times have changed! I interviewed again when my children were small in the early ‘80s in between periods as a Careers Adviser, and then moved on to be a Home Care Manager for the elderly in a local authority, assessing needs and arranging packages of care as required. Looking for a change, I went back to market research in 1993 as Field Manager and then Director for Marketing Sciences Ltd., now Walnut, where I stayed for a very happy and fun 17 years until retirement. Since then I’ve been an Inspector for the Interviewer Quality Control Scheme which keeps me in touch with the industry, and also volunteer in a local Oxfam bookshop and for my local gardening club.
I’m really honoured to be part of the MRBA because it’s such a worthwhile scheme in an industry where many people can easily find themselves in difficulty, needing practical help and guidance. Hopefully all my past experience will enable me to contribute to it effectively.
Jane Gwilliam
I spent most of my working life with Research International (originally RBL), briefly in Field and latterly, and for most of my working life, as a Qualitative Researcher with responsibility for international training and product development. I retired as a company director but still do occasional pro bono studies for charities. I am on the Ethics Committee at The University of the South Bank and a Fellow of the Market Research Society. Qualitative research requires an understanding of what motivates people and their cares and concerns in commercial but especially social research situations.
