Ipsos

November 11 2011

In the UK, London-based Ipsos has appointed Synovate’s former HR head Caroline Wingfield as its new Director of HR, as part of its move to integrate Synovate staff following its acquisition of the firm. Ipsos completed its £528.8m acquisition of Synovate in October, forming the third largest market research company in the world. Prior to joining Synovate as HR Director, Wingfield (pictured) was HR Manager of Maritz Research between 2000 and 2004, and HR Executive at The Research Business International (TRBI) from 1997 to 2000. Following the takeover, Ipsos has announced that Ben Page remains in post as CEO of Ipsos MORI and David Hollis stays on as Director of Finance. From Synovate, Sara Gundry will take up the position of Director of Marketing and Communications for the combined company. Last week, Ipsos announced that it had restructured its team in China, with the appointment of five ‘Combined Country Managers’ who will ready the businesses for integration, while ensuring they run separately until the end of the year. Ipsos co-President Didier Truchot confirms that the firm is considering alternative roles for other employees whose positions will be lost as a result of the acquisition. These include Synovate’s UK CEO Jill Telford, Greater China CEO Eliza Wong, Taiwan chief Matthew Chang, and Hong Kong Executive Director Jeff Stewart. Truchot explains: ‘We are working quickly and jointly with the Synovate team and are delighted to welcome them within Ipsos. We are confident in our ability to achieve the objectives of the combination identified at the announcement of the transaction.’ Web sites: www.ipsos.com and www.synovate.com . Printer-friendly version of this article. Email this article to a friend. Register for News emails