Inspirational managing director celebrates 20 years at North East business as company grows from strength to strength 

Kim Davis, managing director at North East based Explain Market Research is celebrating 20 years at the business as the company continues to dominate in the utility sector as well as announcing new high-profile clients in fashion and banking sectors.

Explain Market Research was founded in 1993 and Kim joined the team in 1998 as a research assistant before rapidly making a name for herself and progressing up the business, before taking up her current role as managing director in 2012.

Over her career at Explain Kim has been pivotal in driving forward instrumental change, implementing innovative business processes and overcoming wide-scale challenges, including establishing the Explain business in core sectors, setting up the first research centre and rebranding the business in 2004.

Discussing her career at Explain Kim said, “Explain is almost unrecognisable from the company that I joined back in 1998 where I worked with a team of six and was in charge of setting up the very first email account, and dialling into it once a week! Now we are a team of close to seventy and producing digitally innovative platforms to our clients throughout the UK!

“This year we have delivered some really impressive client work, including leading a sprint at the Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival in July, and it is a real privilege to lead the team that has made that happen. As well as bringing in new clients from across the UK, our success has also been down to existing client growth through effective client management and illustrating the tangible return on investment that our strategic insights provide.

“Over the last year alone we have expanded the team, appointing a new commercial director and internally developing the team to key promotions within the business. We are currently recruiting for a number of roles including an experienced research manager to support our rapid growth.

“The best part of working at Explain is being surrounded by a great team of people every day and being challenged, as we are constantly learning and trying new things. I have no doubt that my talented team is the key driver behind the success of Explain. We are a very commercially minded company, but we maintain the values of support and whole team success. My team deliver for each other and our clients and we pride ourselves on developing partnerships with the businesses and organisations that we work with, which shows in our impressive client retention rates.

“The best advice I have ever been given over my career was to work hard, use your initiative and go above and beyond what is asked as it’s often your attitude that makes you stand out, that is just as true now as it was 20 years ago.

“Explain has undergone major changes over the last twenty years and the future continues to look bright for the company, which now boasts clients from Fort William to Guernsey.

Kim continued, “I’m sure emerging technology will continue to influence how we communicate but as our business is based on real people and real opinions, conversations will remain at the heart of what we do five, twenty, fifty years from now. Whatever the future holds, the Explain culture and our belief in supporting each other is a key aim, it nurtures us, it makes us who we are and it’s the key reason that I have stayed at the business as long as I have.”

To find out more about how Explain Market Research can help your company succeed visit www.explainresearch.co.uk.