Acumen are delighted to share the results of our first “Coronavirus Impact Report”. This first piece of research, looking at how public attitudes towards market research are likely to be affected by the ongoing pandemic, is being shared freely with our friends and colleagues within the research industry as we all attempt to adjust to our new normal.
Our flagship study has been conducted with a sample of the British population in an effort to understand what factors they will be considering as the country moves out of lockdown and we look to begin conducting market research again.
Our research took the form of a short online survey sent to a national database of participants who have opted in for market research projects. The survey took approximately 5 minutes to complete and specifically queried attitudes and sentiments around participating in market research once restrictions have been relaxed in the near future.
The purpose of the research was to understand the public perception towards various market research related activities and to see how people felt about them in relation to other everyday activities.
Our first finding will be certain to give some comfort to our colleagues in the research industry as our sample viewed individual face-to-face research as being second only to visiting a supermarket for activities that involve social contact.
Focus groups with 5-8 people were also favoured above visiting the hairdressers to get a haircut – and we’ve all read the reports of how desperate people have been feeling about that.
It isn’t quite as good news for large public events where you might anticipate interacting with large volumes of people in an uncontrolled environment. On this, visiting the zoo, attending music festivals or concerts and going to the gym were the least favoured activities of our sample as they contemplate what they’ll be doing when they’re returning to their day-to-day activities.
When we asked our sample about what measures could be put in place to make them feel safer and more comfortable when attending a face-to-face focus group or interview our sample were very clear in their view that social distancing was certain to put them at ease.
This answer received more than twice the positive response of the next most favoured option – having the ability to drive and park at venues. This may become a key consideration for the wider market research industry as we consider how to move out of current lockdown position and begin to plan future market research projects.
Online research has been the champion methodology for the past few months. Thankfully for researchers it also seems that participants have been able to adapt to this very quickly with high levels of confidence across age groups including those aged over 55 who may have previously avoided studies with this method. When asked to state their levels of confidence we see high levels of agreement amongst all participant groups indicating that this is a change that people have really embraced in this new environment.
If you would like to know more about our research or if you would like to see the full report of our findings then please send an email to enquiries@acumenfieldwork.com and we will be happy to send you our complete results.
The events of the past week can’t be understated. The news of the spread of Coronavirus to the UK and the World Health Organisation recognising it as a global pandemic has forced everyone around the world to reassess almost every aspect of their lives.
At Acumen we’ve had to enact a number of contingency policies to ensure the safety of our staff, clients and all of the supply partners and participants that we rely to conduct our research. We’re grateful that, for now, the impact has been minimal and inconvenient – in comparison to the differing scenarios unfolding globally.
In times like these many of us are reaching out for answers, advice and solutions. As people who work in market research we have a deep understanding of that drive. We also wanted to know, not just about the virus, but the every day impact that an event like this has on us – at a personal level and at a national level.
We decided to distribute a survey via our recruiting partners, Research Opinions, to try and get a better picture of the view from the UK. Here are some of their responses:
Some of the statistics were reflected in the verbatim responses we recorded:
I’m concerned that things are even worse than we are being told. That the government aren’t acting quickly enough and there will be many deaths.
The effect on the vulnerable and those who are self employed. I’m concerned as a health worker in a hospital too. Seeing empty supermarkets is something I never would’ve expected to see in my lifetime.
There were almost equal levels of support and discord with the governments response to the outbreak:
I am less concerned today than I have been over the last 2 weeks. The government has finally taken this pandemic seriously but their measures are too little, too late and do not go far enough.
Mixed information given and different countries adopting different strategies.
The panic is more concerning. The measures being taken are limiting income. I feel there is more scaremongering than actual facts.
Everyone should have access to testing so they can self isolate even if they have no symptoms. At the moment even people with symptoms are not being tested and are just told to stay at home.
I think a lot of this is hysteria but it’s hard not to feel concerned when you hear about it 24/7.
I’m sure if everyone is careful with hygiene and isolating if they are unwell, then the spreading of the virus will be limited. Unfortunately we live in a selfish, greedy world where people have never practiced good hygiene and aren’t going to start now. Or they’re going over the top with panic buying; leaving others in want. The virus itself isn’t the problem.
To celebrate the International Day of the Girl we’re looking back over some of the important work done by members of our team when they volunteered in Sierra Leone as part of an initiative to help young women.
Earlier this year Lizzie Coultas, our Head of Healthcare Market Research, and Julie Fuller, our business founder, travelled to Sierra Leone to assist on a charitable project, organised by Teams4U. The objective of this initiative was to empower girls and young women by providing them with resources they need to succeed in life. This included basic items such as school resources, bras and sanitary products which, due to a lack of access, often prevent young women from staying in education.
The team were also involved with a local college, helping to refurbish classrooms to provide vocational training to young women and provide them with an income.
Hear about Lizzie’s experiences in the short video below
Beyond the voluntary work that Julie, Lizzie and the other volunteers did in Sierra Leone, we also raised funds of over £16,000 which went directly to the institutions we were working with in Sierra Leone. For this we would like to thank all of the generous donations we received, including The Research Club and all the individuals who helped with each of our fundraising activities.
International Day of the Girl is a United Nations initiative which seeks to highlight many of the unique challenges faced by girls and young women around the world. By working with Teams4U we have witnessed the reality of these struggles and welcome the broader awareness that today brings.
It’s World Mental Health Day and to mark this year’s awareness day we’re announcing the appointment of three Mental Health First-Aiders within the company. Laura Baxter, Charlotte Neild and Emily Basnett will be the first members of the wider company to receive this training.
We’ve always recognised the importance of an open and honest work culture and, as we’ve grown, we’ve also come to understand the importance of our role in providing effective and positive support for all the people who work with us. The average British person spends just over 1800 hours per year at work (a third of their waking hours!), so it’s essential that we continue to invest in the people that have made our business successful.
Stigma around mental health remains a key issue in the UK and we encourage our senior members of staff to keep an open dialogue with their teams. In a recent feedback survey, over 80% of our employees said that they were happy to chat with their line manager if they were suffering with work or home related stress.
We’re proud to put the wellbeing of our employees at the forefront and this investment in the MHFA scheme will ensure that that all of our teams feel safe and supported in the workplace. You can learn more about the training scheme by going to the MHFA England website and you can download materials relating to mental health in the workplace by visiting Time to Change.
We’ve been in a celebratory mood at Acumen this week. We found out that we’ve been named as finalists in not one, not two – but three categories this year’s MRS Operations Awards.
This follows our success last year when Acumen was named as the winner for the Best Data Collection: Face to Face award. That award was in recognition of our “inventive data collection within hard to reach audiences” and our “glowing testimonials”. We’re over the moon to learn that this year we’ve been recognised in the Best Data Collection: Face to Face category again, in addition to two further nods for Best Data Collection: Telephone and Best Training & Development.
The MRS Operations Awards are particularly special to the team at Acumen as these are the only awards in our industry which specifically recognise the contributions made by fieldwork and recruitment teams, in addition to other suppliers in the market research chain; all of whom are integral to the success of any research project.
The winners for this year’s MRS Operations Awards will be announced at a special ceremony on Thursday 26th September at the new location of The Curtain in Shoreditch. Members of Acumen’s fieldwork team will be there to celebrate all of our fellow contributors and cheer on the team from Aspect who have also been named as finalists in the Best Viewing Facility category.
It promises to be a fantastic night!
It’s been quite the year at Acumen with continually increased demand for our services and, more recently, some industry award nominations for our work. So we’re now delighted to tell you that we’re expanding across a number of departments with new faces joining our teams.
Matt Barker first came to the company in 2018 as part of his University placement and, after gaining experience within a variety of different roles he returned to University to complete his degree – achieving 1st Class Honours. After he graduated Matt was successful in securing a permanent role within our Quantitative department and we couldn’t be happier. He’s brought a wealth of experience from both his placement and his time in higher education and is already making an impact within his new role.
Tom Garnett is the newest addition to Acumen’s Qualitative market research agency department; joining the team on a full time basis after making an impression during a 12 week placement with the company that he secured after finishing his degree . He’s shown a real aptitude for fieldwork within his new role and has brought a fresh perspective to the team from the time he had on his placement. The team love working with him and he’s been a welcome addition to the company.
Supporting the fieldwork teams are Jasmine Gaskell and Sarah Rogers. Sarah has joined Acumen’s finance team as an Accounts Assistant and is helping Acumen with the important elements of finance and business management. Jasmine joined the company to assist with the admin and office management while Beth is on maternity leave. She’s already made an impact on the business with a real can-do attitude and an impressive retinue of terrible jokes which she happily shares with anyone who’s willing to listen.
For more information on any of our team members, just head over to the Team page where we’ve got short bios and possibly the best team pictures you’ve ever seen!
Acumen Fieldwork, along with the other parts of the Fuller Research Group, love to give our team the opportunity to continuously develop, both in their roles and personally, so we thought what better way to do this than over a delicious lunch!
At the beginning of the year we introduced our series of Lunch and Learn sessions, aptly named Food For Thought. The object of these sessions is to share knowledge between teams , help people develop new skills, and work on their personal growth. It also gives those leading the sessions a chance to work on their public speaking skills in a relaxed, friendly environment.
Here are the sessions we’ve enjoyed so far:
Becki & Maria discussed Time Management in their Food For Thought session – a great insight into the way we prioritise our workload, sharing top tips and reflecting on how best we could utilise our time, both in and out of work.
Cassie, Senior Quant Fieldwork manager gave us an insight into her busy department which to outsiders can sometimes just seem a hive of data tables, packs and interviewers! Attendees came away with a deeper understanding of the challenges of running a Quant project, things to be cautious of, and tips for ensuring success on every project.
Katie Bancroft from Talent Inspire lead an Introduction to Mental Health session. She helped us to understand more about mental health related issues, become more aware of the affect that our lifestyle can have on our own mental health and gave us some tools to use should we ever struggle with our wellbeing ????♀️
Two of our Qual Fieldwork Managers, Leanne and Abi, took us through all the twists and turns of a day in the life of a Quallie! Members of other departments found their session really useful and said that it helped them to better understand how fieldwork managers navigate their way between clients and recruiters – achieving the ultimate end goal of successful research sessions
As a company all of our departments work closely together, but it’s always good to get some insider knowledge from the different areas of the business and share our knowledge. Upcoming Lunch and Learn sessions include a deeper look at Recruitment, Burnout and the niche that is Healthcare Research. Stay tuned for more of our Food For Thought write ups. ????
Have you seen the latest addition to the Acumen team?
Acumen have always been known as one of the busiest fieldwork teams in the market industry, working on projects across all methodologies, industries and regions, so it only seemed fitting to embrace our reputation and adopt one of the Bees from the We Love MCR campaign that transformed the city with a walking art trail of individually designed Bee sculptures.
For those of you who might not be familiar with the significance of the Bee, it has a long and rich history within the culture of the city. It is one of the best-known symbols of city, having first been used as a motif during the Industrial Revolution to show Manchester’s spirit of enterprise and its place as a hive of industry.
Since then it’s been an intrinsic part of Manchester’s identity but gained wider prominence following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, when it became synonymous with the city’s sense of solidarity and defiance in the wake of terrorism.
In 2018 Manchester came together to create Bee in the City – a mass public art event which saw community groups and artists designing their own bees that formed a stunning walking art trail throughout the city.
The bees from the trail were later auctioned off for the We Love MCR charity, raising over £1.1 million for good causes, community groups and young people throughout the Manchester area.
Following the auction of the Bees from the walking art trail we were delighted to hear that we’d been successful in getting one of the smaller, plain, bee sculptures, which had been made as part of a limited collection.
We used the canvas of the sculpture to emulate the ethos of the bee – representing the spirit of enterprise, industry and cooperation – with artwork inspired by Acumen and the other businesses that complement Acumen.
It now sits in the reception of our building, proudly greeting all who come through our doors at Canal Street in Manchester and we’re delighted that we can share this; our small tribute, to the city we call our home.
In just a few weeks some of the team from Acumen heading out to Sierra Leone to join the Teams4U, a charitable organisation that runs various initiatives around the world.
The team, led by Acumen founder Julie Fuller, will be working with Teams4U on their Develop with Dignity programme which seeks work with young girls and boys to assist them with simple interventions that will enable them to stay in school and continue with their education. Joining Julie will be Lizzie Coultas, Head of Healthcare, and Jade Bailey who’s one of the Senior Project Coordinators in Research Opinions – Acumen’s in-house recruitment team.
Part of the work that they will be doing in Sierra Leone will be providing girls with access to basic sanitary products which will enable them to continue with their education. Currently it’s estimated that on average girls lose up to 3 days per month due to menstruation due to a lack of access and the affordability of sanitary products.
The programme will also be working with boys to help support them by staying in school in a country which often sees children leaving education to find employment as a means of better supporting their families.
If you would like to contribute to the important work that Teams4U are doing in Sierra Leone then you can donate via our Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/julie-fullersierraleone2019
Or if you would like to donate to support Lizzie and Jade and their fundraising head over to https://www.gofundme.com/fuller-research-sierra-leone-trip/
Alternatively if you have items that you would like to donate, such as basic school supplies or other smaller items, please contact hannah.o.donoghue@fullerresearchgroup.com
Acumen have been shortlisted in the Best Innovation category at the 2018 MRS Awards.
The prestigious award will be judged in front of a “Dragon’s Den” style panel before the awards are announced at the MRS Awards Ceremony on Monday 3rd of December.
Acumen have been shortlisted for the groundbreaking work they did on the joint BBC & BT project for a new prototype technology that they have been developing in partnership. The research that Acumen conducted was instrumental in assisting the development teams in the new features and services of their prototype, before taking it to the next phase of development and trials.
Speaking of the work with Acumen, Doug Williams, Project Director at BT Sport, said:
“Acumen played a critical role in allowing us to assess the features and interaction design in our prototype service and worked with us to ensure their market researchers could support our evaluators in what was, at the time of the test, a very technical set up. Following the trials that Acumen conducted, Jamie Hindhaugh, the COO of BT Sport is now publicly promoting our prototype as ‘the next big initiative’ that will help in BT’s quest to allow their viewers to get to the heart of sport.”
Winners will be announced on the 3rd of December – everyone at Acumen will be keeping everything crossed until then!
