FreshMinds Adds Commercial Director

UK-based consultancy FreshMinds has appointed Alistair Leathwood as its new Commercial Director. He joins from Datamonitor, where he was Deputy MD of the Technology Practice.

In his new position, Leathwood will have overall responsibility for all client relationships and new business development.

Over nine years at Datamonitor, he worked across a wealth of different technology and market sectors, and delivered presentations and training courses in Europe, the US and Asia on industry strategic and technological issues. He worked previously for the Thomson Corporation.

MD Charlie Osmond says Leathwood's 'energy, drive and passion for research' are in line with FreshMinds' values. 'His appointment comes at an exciting time of growth and development for the company. After a series of new hires, we now have an expanded team brimming with talent and enthusiasm'.

FreshMinds was established in September 2000 and is one of the fastest growing research companies in the UK, currently with 50 employees. Its unusual approach involves working with a network of 'Minds' - a flexible pool of 500 of the brightest MBAs and business analysts from Europe's leading universities and employers - to deliver research in multiple sectors. Its 26-year-old co-founder Caroline Plumb has twice been listed in Management Today's '35 Under 35' list of Britain's highest-flying young businesswomen (www.mrweb.com/drno/news4230.htm and www.mrweb.com/drno2k/news2339.htm ). The company is online at www.freshminds.co.uk.