Richard Payne has taken on a new position as Joint Managing Director at Sporting Insights, where he will continue working alongside the market research company’s existing Managing Director John Bushell.
Richard has been part of Sporting Insights since 2008, when he joined what was then Sports Marketing Surveys. He stayed with the business as a leading part of the management buyout of 2011, where he was initially responsible for golf research, including establishing tourism monitoring around major events like the Ryder Cup 2012 and the return of The Open to Northern Ireland.
Over the last 12 years, Richard has demonstrated insightful thinking and strong decision making, working his way up to Director and now Joint Managing Director. He has been a key part of leading the team through major projects and service developments, including The R&A and USGA Distance Insights programme, and the newly-launched Outdoor Market Intelligence Service (OMIS).
John is not reducing his involvement in the company, but delegating some of his responsibilities to Richard will allow him to focus in more detail on key areas, including taking a more active involvement with Erica Healy’s Research & Insights team. His focus will be to ensure clients are empowered to maximise the recommendations generated by our research programmes and incorporate insights into their decision making as effectively as possible. John will also be looking to develop other business areas for the business – including some consultancy offerings.
Richard will focus on overseeing Robert Cobain’s Market Intelligence Services (MIS) team, who operate OMIS and the Cycling Market Data Service (MDS) as well as spearheading data visualisation and data science services.
John said: “I am so happy and excited for Richard as he takes this big step in his career. This is fabulous news not just for him but for Sporting Insights. Richard has been at the heart of so many of the best things we have accomplished in the 12 years since Stephen Proctor and I organised the management buy-out of the company, and he’s stepped up another level in recent years, particularly in terms of his support for the MIS team. I can’t wait to see where the future takes us.”
Richard added: “It’s not quite a case of stepping into John’s shoes, as he’ll be walking – or, knowing John, sprinting – alongside me, but I do feel hugely proud to be joining him, having seen day in day out how much passion and knowledge he pours into Sporting Insights. We have, in my view, the strongest team we’ve had at any point since I’ve been involved in the business. We also have a strong strategy for the coming years and lots of exciting projects in the pipeline.”