Our Story

The Focus Group was born in 2005 during a walk on Hengistbury Head in Bournemouth.  A simple question – what do you enjoy most about your job?  - the answer ‘focus groups’ sparked the idea that became The Focus Group.  Since then we’ve developed a business that does more than focus groups, but they remain a core part of our work, coupled with a love of talking and listening to people and continuing to find ways to do this better.

The Team

	Carol McCloskey Carol founded the Focus Group after a long research career in the NHS.  She has also worked for 2 of the top UK market research agencies.   Her career spans work with The Royal College of Surgeons of England, St George’s Hospital Medical School, Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Network, The Royal Marsden Hospital, ORC International and NOP Research. Carol has published many articles in the research/health press and is a qualified counsellor. Walks on Hengistbury Head continue to be a source of inspiration...
	Sarah Mowl Sarah’s experience spans strategic planning, qualitative research and international marketing.  She was client services director for Brann (EHS Brann) and planning director for WWAV Bristol, two of the UK’s top direct marketing agency groups.  As well as research, Sarah is a qualified business and life coach, and is on the management committee of Lifecycle UK and Bristol Care and Repair, providing marketing and fundraising help and advice.
	Lucie Wernike Lucie has a very strong research agency training and background, having worked for 4 London agencies for 11 years building up a very high level of experience and understanding of consumers and the commercial research world.  She has been working independently since 2004 specialising in all aspects of qualitative research and is an experienced project manager, facilitator and presenter. Lucie feels privileged to work in a career that enables her to immerse herself in the worlds of all sorts of people.  In additional to research, she is also a qualified massage therapist and in her spare time is usually being active outdoors.
	Kay Scott Kay’s background is in health psychology and she has worked for Oxford University’s division of public health and was also an Associate director for a top London research agency.  She continues to focus on health projects and works with the British Heart Foundation, NHS no smoking day and has also been involved in developing a DVD and patient self help book for women with cancer.
	Jo Shepherd Jo has over 12 years experience in commercial market research, working for top agencies in London and Edinburgh. Her areas of expertise include creative development, media and advertising, concept and product testing and health education. She has worked on projects for some well known names including The Body Shop, Health Scotland, Scottish Arts Council, L'Oreal, Bass Taverns and the BBC.  After spending a few years 'Down South' Jo is now happily based back in Edinburgh.

Our Recruiters

We work with some of the best recruiters in the UK ensuring that we get the right people to take part in our focus groups and research.  Our recruiters work across the UK and can ‘free find’ people or recruit from customer lists.  For specialist sectors, we work with specialist recruiters, for example when recruiting patients or health professionals for research.    

Other Experts

If we feel we need some additional support and expertise, then we have access to a wealth of other interesting and useful people – all of whom are experts in their field.   

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