Populus Buys Decidedly

In the UK, full service research and strategy consultancy Populus has acquired insight-led innovation agency Decidedly (previously known as FreshMinds), for an undisclosed sum. At the same time, Decidedly's CEO Catherine Crump is stepping down and Tom Wormald will become its MD.

Announcing the acquisition, Michael Simmonds, Populus Group's CEO, said his team had been very impressed by Decidedly's focus on research as a way of helping businesses identify and realise new opportunities. He added: 'Acquiring Decidedly is another step in our plan to ensure that Populus is well positioned for the future. Over the last few months we have invested in further developing our abilities in analytics and have relaunched Populus's web site so that it better reflects the demands of clients. Now we are moving on to look at how we structure ourselves to ensure that we are able to bring the full range of skills within the group - from Populus Data Solutions, Populus, BrandCap and now Decidedly - to help our clients make better decisions'.

Crump will leave Decidedly after more than fourteen years with the company. Her next career move has not yet been announced. Wormald (pictured) takes on the role of MD after joining six months ago with Decidedly as Director of Strategy & Insight. He previously served as MD at insights consultancy Deliberata, establishing the start-up business within the Institute of Customer Service. Prior to this he worked for full-service agency ICM Unlimited (now part of Walnut Unlimited) - initially as Research Director, and latterly as Director - Future Insights. He began his research career at Opinion Leader, before joining the Central Office of Information as an Engagement Consultant at the UK Government's centre of excellence for marketing and research.

Web sites: www.populus.co.uk and www.decidedly.com .

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