Paul is a career people-watcher, initially as an account planner where his advertising career included spells at Yellowhammer, BBDO and McCann Ericsson.

Since joining The Value Engineers in 2000 he has led strategic modelling, brand positioning and brand portfolio management projects, with a particular emphasis on consumers’ perspectives. That said, Paul is a keen advocate of the principle that projects should be consumer fed and not consumer led.

Paul leads a team of specialist quantitative research consultants to provide exciting new approaches to segmentation, brand tracking, purchase decision making and revenue modelling tools.

Most and least chilled: dismantling British motorcycles

A passion for branding, cultural change (as well as sailing and scuba-diving) led Anna to a global career in fields as diverse as scenario planning and psychographics. Joining The Value Engineers in 1999 (and earning an MBA in her spare time!), her tenacious spirit has won her a strong reputation in segmentation, insight, branding, strategy and proposition development both for business to business and consumer-facing brands. Heading up our Customer Experience practice, Anna now helps clients to root consumer truths back into their organisations, through real and meaningful interactions with target audiences.

Favourite thing to bake: Cup cakes

Paul entered the world of consultancy after completing a Masters in Psychology which sparked his interest in consumer behaviour. Beginning his career at Accenture, Paul helped a number of leading retail brands deliver more profitable customer-focused propositions. By the time he joined The Value Engineers in 2010, he had added expertise in healthcare and technology to his portfolio. He has since focused on growth strategies for global brands including Mars, EA and 3M. Paul now leads our thinking in all things digital, and is passionate about developing compelling strategies for entering new and difficult markets.

Happiest when: cycling up hills, preferably the Alps

Renowned for his creative spark, Giles launched his career in advertising where he built up his reputation for 12 years, winning not one but two IPA Advertising Effectiveness Awards. He brings an invaluable 360 degree perspective to any project with a wealth of experience in communications, packaging and corporate identity as well as a strong hand in brand consultancy! In addition, he contributes regularly to the media and is the proud father of three books: “Brandwatching”, “Adwatching”, “Researchwatching” with a fourth on the way. Giles now focuses his time on honing specialisms in Branding especially positioning, architecture and extension.

Favourite workshop prop: One of his Lego watches

A fascination for people, cultures and brands brought Katy to a career in Insight which spans many years (too many to mention), many categories (from toilet rolls to first class travel) and many countries (including living in the USA for 4 years). Previously MD of Hauck, she joined The Value Engineers in 2005, although not entirely as a ‘new girl’, having worked with us on projects since our inception in the 1980s. She now leads our thinking on integrating consumer understanding in strategic brand planning, with a particular passion for using Insight
to inspire intuitive decision making.

Long-term ambition: Veteran tournament-winning tennis player

Originally seduced by the bright lights and glamour of the advertising world, Richard spent four years working in ATL/BTL agencies, before realising that he was most inspired by brand positioning and innovation. Since joining The Value Engineers in 1999, Richard has developed specialisms in designing and facilitating effective (and fun) creative and strategic workshops, qualitative research and insight development. He now heads up our Innovation practice, with a guiding philosophy of looking for the biggest challenges, but recognising that there is always an opportunity to do great work on even the smallest marketing problem.

Mastermind subject: The history of Guinness innovation (1759 2008)

The enigmatic Paul is the early adopter of The Value Engineers. His passion for innovation extends to great lengths as he is not merely a keen observer but also owner of every innovation to arrive on the market. From Oxford University he began his career in advertising with French Gold Abbott and Young & Rubicam. Staying ahead of the curve, he was headhunted to establish a strategic planning division at The Creative Business before in 1986 he co-founded The Value Engineers with Graham Harding. With Graham, he now acts as consultant-in-chief across the business and helps pioneer our latest thinking on brands and branding.

Strategic style statement: Stripy socks

From a Modern History degree at Lincoln College, Oxford, Alex sprung into a marketing career at L’Oréal, launching Maybelline into the UK. Over a decade at The Value Engineers, Alex has developed expertise in global innovation and brand strategy and gained a strong reputation for training clients in marketing best practice. He now heads up our New York Office, managing both global and North American projects across all of the practice areas but now with a bagel not toast in his hand. With his passport always at the ready he also leads our Capabilities arm, turning real project-based thinking into practical lessons for marketing teams across categories and around the world.

Favourite tipple: Fat Tyre

Having lost none of his Welsh pragmatism (helped in part by regular visits to his beloved Pontypool), Owen’s natural fluency in thorough strategic thinking led him to brand consultancy over 20 years ago, as our first graduate trainee. He has accumulated extensive experience in providing added value interpretation to clients across all major continents through global masterbrand positioning, brand portfolio planning and major consumer segmentations. Owen now acts as Group CEO and shapes our thinking on brand strategy and planning.

Happiest when: Wales win the Grand Slam!

Our Consumer Health practice is led by Ken Wright, a senior marketing and communications specialist, with over 25 years of global experience in developing, launching and growing OTC, Health and Wellness and Personal Care brands and services across a large number of consumer health categories.

Simon brings a client-side development scientist view to the business, combined with marketing and healthcare advertising experience, across almost 15 years of involvement in Consumer Healthcare brands and services

Lou has more than a decade’s experience in developing marketing and strategy for kids and families, encompassing brand consultancy, publishing and advertising. She created the Jigsaw Guides reports on Tweens and Pre-Schoolers, and was Editor of the X-Tribes Teens trend series. Since moving into brand consultancy, her work on kids & family brands includes proposition development, insight, brand strategy, NPD, customer pathways and brand positionings for clients across a variety of industries.

Lou joined The Value Engineers in 2010, and now heads up The Value Engineers’ Kids & Family practice. Recent clients include Kraft, Ferrero Rocher, the Unilever children’s ice-cream portfolio, Scandinavian confectionery brand Dumle, McDonald’s and children’s broadcaster HIT Entertainment.