TARP Changes Hands

Private equity investment firm McCown De Leeuw & Co. (MDC) has sold its share in UK customer satisfaction and loyalty specialist TARP to a US management company, working with TARP's senior management. New owner Alfred Street Partners L.L.C. (ASP) describes itself as 'a business and investment partner for marketing communications entrepreneurs'.

TARP was a pioneer in quantifying the impact of product quality and customer service on corporate revenue, co-founded at Harvard University in 1971 by John Goodman, now its President. The company has developed sophisticated modelling of customer performance for its clients, and will now look to broaden its services to include internal stakeholder experience and competitor research.

ASP founder John Brady says TARP possesses 'unparalleled intellectual capital in the area of customer care, an area that has evolved beyond customer hotlines and call centers to encompass all aspects of the company-customer relationship' and is 'well positioned to be the pre-eminent provider of Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Organization, and Voice of the Market research and related services'.

TARP's UK MD Henry Jones says the management team had been 'looking for a partner that can really help us take the business forward both in terms of investment resources and knowledge: ASP and John Brady clearly have both'. TARP has offices in both the UK and US and a combined staff of 30. It is online at www.tarp.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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