Watermelon Names Senior Leadership Team

In the UK, Chime's customer experience consultancy Watermelon Research has announced a new leadership team, led by recently promoted CEO Mark Squires, following last month's consolidation and restructuring of Facts International and Opinion Leader under the Watermelon brand.

Headquartered in London and launched in 2012 as a digital MR agency, Watermelon was recently merged with sister agencies Facts International and Opinion Leader, and then moved from Chime's Insight and Engagement Division (CIE) to the group's VCCP group of creative agencies, allowing it to enhance and expand its range of CX services. The new senior team now comprises Phil Corr as MD, Fieldwork Services; Mark Barrett as MD, VOC; Sian Kerr as MD, Consulting; Richard Balls as Chief Technology Officer; and Claire Spencer as COO; with Nick Lamb remaining as Chairman.

Kerr and Balls are new Board appointments, with Kerr bringing more than twenty years' research experience of leading complex insight programmes; while Balls has ten years' research industry experience combined with a background in software development. After overseeing the set-up of Watermelon's Australian operations, Balls is tasked with pushing Watermelon into new areas of technology innovation.

Commenting on the restructure, Squires (pictured) said: 'Put simply, we now have the best people in the top jobs to drive, manage, and continue our rapid growth. I am particularly pleased with our appointment of a CTO. This is a new role and will enable us to further expand Watermelon's technology platform by incorporating recent advances in modular technology and machine learning. This empowers our clients to collect even more in the moment data, driving even greater activation and transformation throughout their businesses'.

Web site: www.watermelonresearch.com .