At Acumen, we’re not interested in performative pride, or pride-washing during June. We believe inclusivity should be part of the everyday, not just the calendar moments.
That’s why we’re proud to support the launch of our very own LGBTQ+ Collective, a grassroots, team-led initiative designed to make our workplace safer, braver, and better for everyone.
We caught up with Rachel Pound, the brains behind the idea to dig into what sparked it, what it hopes to achieve, and why it matters to the work we do, not just in our offices, but in the wider world of fieldwork too.
What inspired the creation of the LGBTQ+ Collective?
Generally, I wanted there to be something structured and visible that supported LGBTQ+ people in work and something that people knew existed right from the beginning of starting to work at this company. This idea was shaped by a couple of moments, over the last few months that led to the LGBTQ+ Collective.
Inside work, I felt encouraged by the words said by SLT at the last All Company meeting, about really showing up for the staff this year, and by the ideas behind the new Culture Book and beyond. Outside of work, I was motivated to get the LGBTQ+ Collective started at this specific time period because of the recent UK Supreme Court ruling around the legal definition of ‘women’ contributing to increased transphobia in the UK. The timing of this felt even more important to give people a chance to speak up about how we can make sure work is more inclusive and is a safe working environment.
What are the main goals of the Collective, both short-term and long-term?
A mix of some easy fixes, and some bigger long term challenges to face! Here are some things I had in mind:
How do you hope it will help improve inclusivity in the day-to-day work life?
The LGBTQ+ Collective will hopefully encourage people to speak up on topics they otherwise may have felt they weren’t able to. This works for LGBTQ+ people who, for example, weren’t clear on LBGTQ+ friendly company policies but also allies who, for example, weren’t confident on inclusive language.
It’s also a chance for us to be consistently forward thinking in our workplace but also with our recruitment practices. Our aim is to hear the opinions of as many different people as possible, so the more inclusive our practices are, the more chance we have to hear from everyone. This makes recruitment more successful, of higher quality, and more interesting!
The LGBTQ+ Collective is still in its early days, but like all good ideas at Acumen, it’s built on action, not just intention. By creating space for open conversations, challenging the status quo, and championing diverse voices from the inside out, we’re shaping a workplace (and an industry) where everyone has a seat at the table.
Because better fieldwork starts with better people work. And we’re just getting started. 🌈
Fieldwork doesn’t come with a manual. But this comes pretty close.
Starting out in research is exciting but let’s be honest, it can also feel like you’ve been dropped into the middle of a study with a half-written brief, ten stakeholders, and no firm plan of what you need to do next.
Whether you’re fresh to fieldwork, switching sides from client to agency, or suddenly finding yourself in charge of organising a study group, there’s a lot to think about.
And a lot you’re expected to just know.
That’s where we come in.
At Acumen, we’ve worked with researchers of every flavour, agency side, brand side, freelance, and everything in between. We’ve seen the common slip ups, the forgotten details, and the “wish someone had reminded me to check this” moments. So, we put them all in one place.
Introducing: the New Researcher Checklist, your downloadable, tick box-able, fieldwork sanity-saver.
It’s not a textbook. It’s not a lecture. It’s just the practical stuff you actually need to check before starting your study. Think of it as a confidence boost in checklist form.
This isn’t just about making your life easier (although it will). It’s about making your projects smoother, faster, and better. When the logistics run like clockwork, your brain’s freed up to do the good stuff, like digging into insights and asking the big, juicy questions.
So if you’re a researcher who:
Then this checklist is for you.
Download the free checklist now!
Helpful stuff, from the fieldwork people who’ve seen it all.
We’re going to hold your hand when we say this, but fieldwork isn’t just about getting the numbers. Although we are nerds for a tidy spreadsheet. It’s about people, and not just the people paying for the research, but the people actually taking part in it.
Here’s the bit that you might forget. Every research session, every single survey, every “just one last question” is a brand interaction. Which means, that your fieldwork is working two jobs, it’s data collection as well as a PR exercise. Crazy, huh?
You’re not just collecting data. You’re creating an impression.
When participants walk away thinking “that was alright actually” it’s a win win. The first win is for the quality of the data (we’ll talk about that more in a sec), and the other is for the halo effect around your brand. Because people talk. Whether it’s on WhatsApp to their friends or TikTok to the whole wide world, it all adds up, and it all matters.
If someone is bored to tears or feels ignored during your study, they’re not going to give you thoughtful answers, they’ll rush, guess and mentally check out. And that’s not just bad news for your data, it’s bad news for the people trying to make sense of it later!
But on the flipside, when participants have a great time and feel valued and the process is almost enjoyable(!) they engage with the study. They open up and tell you what they really think, and that’s the gold dust.
Most of the time fieldwork is the first time someone will engage with your brand in a meaningful way. So why should it be treated as a formality? It’s like turning up to your first date late, in yesterday’s joggers, and then forgetting their name.
When we take on projects, we treat our participants like they’re the client, because then that participant walks away feeling seen, heard and maybe even a bit flattered, and that good feeling reflects right back on you.
At Acumen, we treat every project like the participant is the client. Because if we do our job right, that participant walks away feeling seen, heard, and maybe even a little bit flattered. And that good feeling? It reflects right back on you.
So what does the Acumen experience look like?
Funnily enough, it all starts with being human. Communicating in a way that participants know what they’re signing up for, and most importantly why! We don’t send robotic emails, or cryptic invites, we’re straight forward and straight talking. Must be the Northerners in us!
We always remember that participants are the ones doing us a favour, not the other way round. So we make sure that we keep things snappy. We don’t want our participants to feel like they’ve gone back to school and are in a slow, boring exam.
Another thing we try to make sure of during any study is that the tech works seamlessly. Noone wants to be downloading 18 plugins, restart their laptop 4 times, go through 7 different authenticators then get stuck in waiting room purgatory.
We bang on about the next thing a lot, but one of the key elements to our success is our team. Skilled moderators make people feel comfortable, not like lab rats. It’s about real warmth, curiosity and knowing when to dig deeper without making it weird. We give them bonus points for humour and knowing how to use Gen-Z slang. What does “rizz” even mean anyway?
When people think incentives, they just think of the cash. Although that definitely helps, there’s also a peace of work to do around clarity, speed and fairness. Participants should never have to release their inner Liam Neeson to chase down a voucher.
The takeaway from all the above, is that participants remember how you made them feel, were they listened to? Were they treated with care? Importantly, did they leave thinking “Yep, I’d definitely do that again.” When we get this right, we build goodwill, which in turn builds good PR, and that’s powerful stuff.
Let’s wrap it up.
Fieldwork isn’t just research, it’s PR wrapped in a lab coat. Every interaction with participants are brushstrokes in the bigger picture of how your brand is thought of. Whether it’s the slick sign up, or the warm conversation, or at it’s most transactional, the quick payment with zero fuss, it all adds up. People remember how you made them feel, and it sticks,
Great fieldwork means great data, that’s a given. But it also means people walk away thinking “I like this brand” and in today’s noisy, cynical consumer-led world that kind of impression is worth its weight in gold.
So if you want your research to feel as good as it functions, you know who to call. Acumen’s fieldwork is designed to make participants smile, and make your brand look quietly brilliant whilst we’re at it.
We’re so proud to announce that a project we supported has been named Best Business Impact Winner at the 2025 BOBI Awards!
Led by Perrigo and RedLeaf Research, “Changing the Conversation” tackled a complex and critical challenge, namely, understanding the real conversations happening in pharmacies around pain relief and sleep aids, particularly those containing codeine and diphenhydramine.
The insights uncovered were powerful, highlighting clear gaps in knowledge and confidence. These findings then directly shaped two training programmes and influenced a shift in how healthcare professionals are educated.
The result? Better support for pharmacists, more informed recommendations, and a measurable uplift in sales.
Acumen Fieldwork was proud to play a supporting role in this project, working alongside M3 Global and Wills Data. Our focus was on delivering high quality, real-world fieldwork to help uncover the insights that made all the difference.
This award is a fantastic example of how collaboration, research, and fieldwork come together to create meaningful business outcomes.
Huge congratulations to the teams at Perrigo and RedLeaf, we’re proud to have been part of it.
Some exciting news to start our day!
This morning, we received exciting news that Rachel Pound, Senior Recruitment Specialist at our sister company, Research Opinions, had been shortlisted for the AQR Parker Prize for Emerging Talent 2025 🎉
This special award is sponsored by the family, friends and colleagues of the late Ken Parker, a true legend in the market research world.
We’re so proud of Rachel, it’s such a well-deserved recognition for someone who puts so much heart, care and absolute brilliance into her work.
The finalists will be announced after 3rd June, and the winner will be revealed at the AQR’s AGM and Summer Party on 25th June.
It’s a wonderful achievement just to be shortlisted… but we’ve got everything crossed for you, Rachel!
At Acumen, we don’t think the best healthcare research starts with a clipboard or a questionnaire. It starts with a conversation.
It starts at a kitchen table, where a carer opens up to us about the daily challenges of managing a loved one’s chronic condition.
It starts on a video call, where a patient, with their camera slightly askew, talks candidly about what living with their diagnosis really feels like.
For over 20 years, we’ve been privileged to hear these stories. And it’s these authentic, human experiences that drive every piece of healthcare research we deliver.
When you work in healthcare research, you quickly realise: it’s never just about data. It’s about people. Real people, living real lives, often facing incredible challenges.
That’s why Acumen’s healthcare team approach every project with sensitivity, empathy and the highest professional standards. All our recruiters are BHBIA accredited, trained in adverse event reporting and legal and ethical guidelines, but more than that, they genuinely care about the individuals they’re speaking to.
We understand that building trust isn’t optional. It’s essential. Whether we’re organising an in hospital usability study, an at home interview, or a health economics survey, we ensure every participant feels heard, respected, and valued.
Our panel of 250,000 healthcare professionals and users is a fantastic resource, if we do say so ourselves.
But what really sets Acumen apart is our community-first approach. We’ve spent two decades building trusted partnerships with charities, organisations and local networks, meaning we can reach the audiences others can’t, and reach them in the right way.
When you need a consultant cardiologist for a cutting-edge device study, or a group of carers managing rare conditions for an in-depth diary project, you need more than just a list of names.
You need a partner who knows how to listen, engage, and deliver.
Every story we hear, every insight we gather, feeds into something bigger. It helps healthcare innovators create better products. It informs policy. It shapes the future of care.
At Acumen, we’re proud to be the bridge between these human stories and the organisations striving to make healthcare better for everyone.
You know we love a challenge, so we’re absolutely buzzing to announce that we’re finalists for Creative Fieldwork Team of the Year for BHBIA’S Best of Business Intelligence (BOBI) Awards 2025!
For this year’s challenge, the BHBIA provided a fictional, yet highly realistic client brief focusing on patients living with glaucoma and the specialists managing their care.
The task was to design a robust quantitative or qualitative fieldwork approach that met detailed recruitment targets across the UK. Submissions were also expected to demonstrate the creativity, rigour and practical know-how that underpin successful fieldwork and recruitment while advising on logistics, incentives, screener design, and compliance.
No biggie (!)
Meet our fantastic team behind it all:
Our response was a true team effort, built on creativity, rigour, and our deep understanding of what makes recruitment strategies work in complex healthcare landscapes.
Building a plan that actually delivers the right people, on time, in niche audiences, with the right support and care throughout takes more than just know how. It takes heart. And a bit of hustle.
We’re so proud of what we submitted, and even more proud to be recognised for the kind of fieldwork we do every day. The thoughtful, collaborative, we’ve-got-you kind of work that we know makes a difference.
Winners will be announced in the evening of the BHBIA Annual Conference on Monday 12 May 2025.
Our very own Becki Pickering and Alan Shirley will be there on the night, so if you’re attending, do say hello.
Best of luck to everyone nominated!
It was the year of baking banana bread, clapping and bashing pots and pans on doorsteps and “you’re on mute” became the national catchphrase. It feels like a bit of a fever dream, now we come to think of it.
It also changed the way the industry did fieldwork. Almost overnight, we swapped clipboards for Zoom links, focus groups for Teams calls and our researchers became part time IT support. Virtual methodologies that were once a niche, were now mainstream.
And to be fair, it wasn’t all bad! Virtual fieldwork opened doors. It made research faster to organise, broadened geographical reach and definitely cut down the mileage on our poor cars who were glad of the chance to sit on the driveway.
But now the dust has settled 5 years later it’s clear: something crucial got left behind.
Yeah, we can talk to people through a screen. We can get good insights by asking the right questions, but what we can’t do – not properly anyway – is really feel the room. In person, we pick up on the things our participants don’t say.
It could be the nervous shuffle. The eye roll when someone’s trying to be polite. The frisson when something is mentioned, or the energy shift when a difficult topic comes up. These are the moments that turn data into meaningful insights. Sadly, they’re also the moments that tend to fade into the distance when everyone is fiddling with the mute button, keeping an eye on the stove or sneakily catching up on MAFS in the background.
And if we’re being super honest? Participant engagement can take a nosedive when they’re slumped on the sofa refreshing their Just Eat app and swiping through their Tinder.
To tell you the truth, dear Reader, we never really bought into the idea that all fieldwork could be permanently digitised. Virtual has it’s place, and we’re bloody good at it when it’s right, but there’s no tech in the world that can replace good old fashioned, in person conversation.
That’s why we’ve doubled down on our face to face fieldwork. We’re still out there, in homes, on shop floors, in communities, really getting into the thick of it. Our researchers know how to spot the tiny cues that reveal the whole story. They know when to lean in, when to let the silence do the heavy lifting, and when a raised eyebrow says more than a ten minute monologue.
Post-pandemic, we’re sharper, nimbler, and even more people savvy.
We’ve adapted, updated our safety protocols, and fine-tuned our fieldwork techniques to suit a world that’s a little more cautious but still just as curious.
We’re not complete luddites. When online makes sense, we love it.
Need to reach people in five completely different time zones? Working on one of those realllly tight deadlines? Budget constraints? Virtual is a brilliant tool when used properly.
But for the meaty stuff, you know, the stuff where you need to get under the skin of human behaviour, there’s no contest.
Face to face wins every time.
In a nutshell?
If you want real insight, the messy, brilliant, surprising kind, you need boots on the ground, eyes on the room, and proper human connection.
That’s where Acumen comes in.
Fieldwork has evolved, and so have we.
We’ve kept the good bits of virtual, ditched the bits that weren’t so great, and rebuilt our face to face offer to be sharper than ever.
Real people.
Real conversations.
Real insight.
Real biscuits (the good ones, too).
We’re dead chuffed to announce that the first three episodes of Acumen and Friends are now live!
Hosted by our very own, and very wonderful Abi Fuller, this podcast is a big hearted, slightly chaotic look at the world of market research, and the people powering it.
Let’s be honest: the world doesn’t need another overly polished corporate podcast.
So, we didn’t make one.
In Episode 1, we dive headfirst into gender, and how we navigate the big ticket issues of identity, pronouns, and we look at how we can do better in research than creating a gender box marked “other.” We ask the big questions, like: does knowing someone’s gender change how they buy biscuits? And more importantly, how do we make our research more human, more inclusive, and way less robotic?
Then in Episode 2, we tackle the challenge of keeping people in the industry, and no, free pizza Fridays aren’t cutting it. We talk about what researchers really want (spoiler: it’s not beanbags and beer fridges), and how we can retain talent without relying on gimmicks.
Episode 3 is where we really get into it, and we talk about the amazing work “Girls Out Loud” are doing,
“We wanted to create a space where we could have honest conversations about the stuff that really matters, not just in research, but in the world,” says host Abi Fuller. “It’s a bit messy and totally unscripted, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re looking for corporate and polished, you’re in the wrong place, but if you’re looking for real conversations, pull up a chair.”
With fascinating guests, big laughs, and a good bit of Northern charm, Acumen and Friends is here to make research feel more human… and a lot more fun!
🎧 Episodes 1, 2 and 3 are out now! Follow us on Spotify! & If you like your insights with a side of chaos, you’re in the right place.
