Our philosophy is to work collaboratively and in partnership with our clients to deliver clear insights and solutions that are transformational. Fundamentally, it’s our passionate and dedicated people and their consultancy skills that make a difference.
We believe in empowering our people to make a positive difference, using their passion, curiosity and skills in listening, to better understand people and society.
Putting People First: We work as one team to make a difference to people’s lives. We care and show empathy. We treat everybody with respect, honesty and dignity.
Customer Focused: We always go the extra mile to ensure our insight makes a difference and can deliver positive outcomes.
Curious and Passionate: We are inquisitive thinkers, committed to giving a voice to audiences who need it even when this is challenging.
Professional integrity We always do the right thing and proudly uphold the standards of our profession.
Our approach to social value
We believe that all businesses have a duty to be socially responsible, to re-invest in society, be active contributors to the local community, and to minimise their environmental impacts. We push for social value – in why we work, how we work and who we work with. In practice this means:
Only work with clients who demonstrably try to support social value.
We specialise in complex questions and difficult topics, with audiences that are seen by many as too hard to engage, or too easy to ignore – and we challenge our clients to do the same.
We are a Real Living Wage Employer
We donate 5% of profit to charities, above and beyond our project-level social value commitments and charitable donations.
We push our team to deliver insight in the most ethical and engaging way possible.
We support members of our team in their own social endeavours and to live our values. All staff receive two days per annum of paid leave to support a cause of their choosing
We undertake pro-bono research, and deliver the Research with a Purpose omnibus twice a year.
We have in-house mental health first aiders, and the team can access a bespoke healthcare package for both physical and mental health support
To support our delivery of social value, a corporate social responsibility delivery team of 12 staff drawn from all levels of the organisation is in place. This ensures that delivery in this area is led by the passions and interests of our team members.
Sign up to our newsletter
Our quality is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort.
Market research can be fraught with issues surrounding transparency, data security and the quality of analysis applied to research. That’s why we’re fully accredited to ISO 9001, 20252 and 27001 as well as cyber essentials plus certified.
the Marine Environment) project, funded by INSITE North Sea as part of the INSITE Phase 3 programme ( Phase 3 – Research Projects – INSITE North Sea). This collaborative initiative brings together a strong partnership of organisations, led by Prof Sian Rees at the University of Plymouth, in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, the National Decommissioning Centre, and specialist consultancy partners. Together…
When people think about the Invictus Games, they often picture medals, competition and international sport. But our independent evaluation of the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) Team UK Invictus Games Programme showed something much deeper at work: a carefully designed recovery journey that supports wounded, injured and sick serving personnel and veterans – and the people around them – long before and long after the…
It’s a been a big week for women’s sport in the UK. The Women’s Six Nations kicked off this past weekend, while the Lionesses took on a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night in a repeat of the Euro 2025 final. Both matches aired on BBC One, underlining the growing prominence and mainstream appeal of England’s women’s teams in the last few years. This moment is part of a much broader surge in visibility and investment. From the UEFA European Women’s Championship 2022…
M·E·L Research is proud to be working with the University of York’s Heritage for Global Challenges Research Centre on the ‘Heritage and Cultural Capital in Contemporary Britain’ project (generously funded by The Leverhulme Trust (Grant: LIP-2021-003)). This important study builds on work conducted in the early 2000s, including the ESRC-funded ‘Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion’ project (2003–2005)…
I will preface this by saying I am old enough – despite looking about 12 – to remember the rise of online surveys, the ‘death’ of face-to-face qual (remember that, after COVID) and ‘Big Data Will Take Your Job’ chat. New tools and approaches emerge all the time and that is something to be celebrated – it pushes us forward.
There is a lot of excitement at the moment about AI in research. Some of it is justified. Some of it I am less enamoured with – certainly when factoring in the work we do at M·E·L Research. Used well, AI can save time. It can help with admin. It can help sort, sift, tag and summarise. And yes, there are probably…
M·E·L Research is pleased to be working with the Molly Rose Foundation on the second wave of a major research study exploring how children and young people encounter harmful content on social media, and how patterns of exposure are evolving over time. This project takes a uniquely in-depth look into four specific themes of harmful content: suicide, self-harm, depression…
M·E·L Research is expanding once again! Following a successful period of growth, we’re excited to announce two new opportunities for experienced research professionals. We’re looking for talented senior social researchers to join our team. If you’re passionate about using evidence and insights to make a meaningful difference to people, communities and public services, we’d love to hear from you.
M·E·L Research is delighted to be working with the British Dyslexia Association once again, this time on a new study exploring the experiences of adults with dyslexia in the workplace. This research will build a deeper understanding of how dyslexia impacts working lives, with a particular focus on employment, inclusion and participation. The study will generate robust evidence to help inform future policy…
Yesterday, I attended the MRS Conference 2026, where this year’s theme was “Research on the Edge: Building Our Futures.” The event brought together researchers, strategists and industry leaders to explore how insight is evolving in a world shaped by rapid technological change, shifting trust and increasingly complex audiences. Across the day’s sessions, several themes came through strongly. AI was a constant presence in the discussion, but so were questions about trust, demographics and the enduring value of human insight.
