2025 Wrapped: A Year to Reflect, a Decade to Look Forward to

Celebrating 40 Years of Purposeful Insight at M·E·L Research

As M·E·L Research marks its 40th anniversary, 2025 has given us a welcome moment to pause, reflect and look ahead. Not just to celebrate the longevity of the company, but to recognise what has sustained us for four decades: curiosity, care and a deep belief that good insight and social value can make a meaningful difference to society.

Founded in 1985, M·E·L Research has grown from a small cooperative into a nationally respected, values-led market, social and behavioural research consultancy. As we step into our fifth decade, our purpose remains unchanged. We work on answering the questions that truly matter, alongside people who are too often unheard, and we turn insight into positive change. We push for social value – in why we work, how we work and who we work with.

The Projects That Shaped Our Year

In our 40th year, the breadth of our work has been as wide as ever. What connects it all is a consistent focus on people, impact and evidence that stands up to scrutiny. Here you can find a range of published social research findings conducted by M·E·L Research.

The projects we discuss in this wrap up are not exhaustive – we’ve done so many! There are just some of the many, varied, projects and topics that we worked on in 2025:

Public policy, regulation and access to justice

We continued to support regulators and oversight bodies including the Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel and Ofcom, helping to bring public and consumer voices into complex policy decisions. Our work explored legal service delivery, digital exclusion and expectations around the future role of artificial intelligence in legal support.

Health, wellbeing and sensitive social issues

We focused on many issues that are often stigmatised or overlooked, ensuring lived experience is at the heart of evidence and action. Health research remained central to our work, spanning sport (Women’s Super League, EMD UK), mental health (Mind‘s Big Mental Health Survey, Barnardo’s, NSPCC), suicide prevention (our SPARK report), perinatal support (NSPCC), menopause (The Menopause Charity), cancer (Macmillan Cancer Support), and women’s health, type 1 diabetes (Breakthrough T1D), homelessness (Shelter) and inequalities in pain and wellbeing (Keele University).

Notably, in October, we were invited to the Houses of Parliament by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) to attend the launch of their new report, ‘Set up for somebody else‘. The report highlights the urgent need for improved support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and dyslexia across the education system. We are credited throughout the publication and proud to have contributed to evidence that strengthens the case for a national strategy for dyslexia. 

Tamsin Maries, Senior Research Manager, who led the project and attended the launch in Parliament said:

“As researchers, we don’t always get to see how our analysis is used or the impact it can have, so it was a real privilege to be a part of the event and to see the research come to life.”

Arts, culture and heritage

We delivered insight and evaluations for a range of organisations and major cultural programmes and place-based initiatives across England, Wales and Scotland, working with organisations including Welsh Government, Creative Scotland, English Heritage, Historic England, AIM (Association of Independent Museums) and North East Combined Authority (NECA).

In addition,The Groundlings, our collaborative online community project with the Royal Shakespeare Company, was longlisted in the ‘Using Data’ category for the prestigious 2025 Digital Culture Awards.

Our work captured pride, belonging, learnings around how communities are responding to heritage at risk and how museums are managing their outdoor spaces.

Technology, AI and social change

We supported organisations such as the Ada Lovelace Institute and the MACH Alliance to explore public attitudes to AI, regulation, trust and adoption. Across this work, we centred fairness, accountability and the importance of ensuring innovation does not deepen existing inequalities.

For the Legal Services Board, we explored how people expect artificial intelligence (AI) to support them when they face a legal issue in the future, and what this means for regulation across England and Wales. 

Evaluation

Evaluation and learning is a key part of our business name, and what we do. We Measure, Evaluate, and Learn using innovative and creative approaches to gather insights and evidence to help shape better services and funding. 

We evaluated EMD UK’s online learning hub, exploring how digital learning can support group exercise instructors to attract, support and retain less active women, contributing to healthier and more inclusive participation.

Major events continued to be a significant strand of our work. This included:

• Evaluating the Invictus Games programme with the Royal British Legion at the 2025 Games in Whistler, Vancouver.

• A major evaluation of NECA’s Early Events Programme.

• A comprehensive evaluation of a wide range of cultural events and festivals across the county, for Durham County Council.

As always, our focus was on legacy, understanding what remains for participants, communities and places long after the event itself.

In Wales, we continued our multi-year partnership with The Wallich on the Gwent BOOST programme, now moving into its final year in 2026. This project focused on working closely with people with lived experience of homelessness to co-design data collection approaches that reflect the realities of the support they have received.

We also completed major national evaluations, including the Culture, Heritage and Sport Anti-racist Wales Action Plan (ArWAP) grant fund for the Welsh Government, with used to inform future funding and delivery.

Alongside this, we concluded many more evaluations supporting organisations to learn from what works and in turn, strengthen future impact.

But don’t just take our word for it!

“M·E·L Research provided valuable support in evaluating the Reach Up programme. Their approach was professional and collaborative, helping us gather useful insights and understand the value of our work, Their findings have given us a clearer picture to inform future decisions.” – EMD UK

“We partnered with M·E·L Research on evaluating a recent smoking cessation campaign. Despite the challenging timelines the team delivered a high-quality piece of research with robust recommendations for our future campaign development. They were receptive to feedback, and consistently demonstrated professionalism, maintaining a positive and approachable attitudethroughout. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with M·E·L Research in the future.” – Birmingham City Council

“M·E·L Research were really great to work with, responsive, knowledgeable and creative.” – NSPCC

“I couldn’t praise Jenny highly enough for her contribution, dedication and impact in seeing this project to completion. Despite the enormous challenges, Jenny was a constant rock throughout and nothing was too big an ask. Her professionalism shone through and she left no stone unturned to ensure the project captured all aspects of learning and she happily collated the pockets of data that were collected outside of the original scope of the project which I was very keen to present. Thanks to her we now have a report which fairly and justly demonstrates the impact of prehabilitation in Northern Ireland.” – Macmillan Cancer Support

Tackling the Issues Others Avoid

A defining feature of our work this year was a continued commitment to breaking taboos and opening up difficult conversations.

Through our Women’s Health in Society: Bridging the Knowledge Gap research, we explored public understanding of menopause, fertility, endometriosis, PCOS and PMDD. The findings highlighted persistent gaps in awareness, alongside strong support for better workplace understanding and support.

Our SPARK suicide prevention research continued to provide up-to-date insight on attitudes, risk and prevention, and is now referenced in the new BSI workplace suicide prevention standard (BS30480). This recognition demonstrates how thoughtful research can help shape policy and practice.

We also contributed to nationally significant research on public views on assisted dying for Nuffield Council and Hopkins Van Mill, supporting informed debate on one of the most sensitive ethical issues facing society.

Sharing Knowledge and Shaping Practice

In 2025, we actively shared learning across the sectors we work in. Our team spoke at and attended conferences including the Visitor Studies Group Conference, the ChEW Festival of Impact and Evaluation, and the AIM Conference, presenting alongside partners and clients and sharing emerging evidence with peers.

These moments reflect our belief that research is at its most powerful when it is shared, debated and used.

Investing in Our People and Leadership

As we celebrated our 40th year, we also invested confidently in the future of the organisation.

This year saw Elliot Simmonds appointed to the Board as Commercial Director, where he is responsible for developing and implementing our commercial strategy and leading the organisation’s sales and marketing functions.

We strengthened our insights team with three new Research Managers: Leyla Ahmed, Michael Keating and Roisin Coleman, and also the commercial team, with the appointment of Marketing Manager, Beth Harcourt.

We celebrated internal progression with the well-deserved promotion of Tamsin Maries, from Research Manager to Senior Research Manager, Vicky Younger becoming a contracted member of the team in the role Field Quality Assurance Assistant.

We have also appointed a new Fieldwork Manager and a Head of Evaluation; both of whom will be joining us in January 2026. We cannot wait to welcome them to the team and will share more about them when they arrive!

With a team of around 100 people, we remain committed to nurturing talent, supporting progression and growing in ways that reflect our values.

Social Value and Community

Social value is not a side project at M·E·L Research, it is part of how we operate.

Charity of the Year 2025

We continued our Charity of the Year partnership with Narthex from 2024 into 2025. Narthex is a Birmingham-based charity supporting people facing poverty and crisis through person-centred support.

Instead of sending clients Christmas gifts this year, we sent Narthex a £500 Christmas donation to support them and their cause at what is a challenging time for many.  

Bhavna Chaudhary,  Fundraising and Community Engagement Manager, at Narthex said of our donation:

“I’m genuinely moved by thoughtfulness behind M·E·L Research’s decision. A £500 donation will make a tangible difference to the work we do at Narthex, and knowing that M·E·L Research chose to support our community in this way, rather than exchanging corporate gifts, makes it all the more meaningful. It speaks volumes about the values you share as a team.”

Social Value in the Community

Every employee receives two paid volunteering days each year. In 2025, colleagues generously supported foodbanks, hospices, schools and community organisations across the UK. Highlights included:

• Karen and Jenny volunteered at Narthex’s food depot, sorting donated food and helping prepare food bags.
• Karen, Jenny and Sophi taking on the half marathon at the AJ Bell Great Birmingham Run in May, raising a whopping £1,162 for Narthex, smashing their target of £500.
• Steve giving two half-days to help run cricket taster sessions at a local primary school.
• Elliot used his days in his governance roles as a Committee Chair at Creswell Crags, and as a Director of Creswell Trading Company.
• Jenny supported St Mary’s Hospice’s Treecycling project by delivering leaflets locally, helping raise funds through the recycling of unwanted Christmas trees.
• George volunteered in the The Little Mermaid pantomime to help raise funds for St Mary’s Hospice.
• Sophi conducting mock interviews with ten Year 11 students at Cheslyn Hay Academy Trust, inspiring interest in social research as a career.

Trust, Quality and Accountability

Trust is fundamental to everything we do. In 2025, we passed surveillance audits for ISO 9001 and ISO 20252, achieved ISO 27001:2022 for Information Security with exemplary feedback, and signed the GDQ Data Quality Excellence Pledge.

A big shoutout to our Quality and Compliance Lead, Toni, for planning, managing and overseeing our ISO audits, as well as the ongoing day-to-day management of our systems. Toni’s dedication and attention to detail play a vital role in ensuring that our standards remain high throughout the year, not just during audit season.

These standards provide reassurance to clients, participants and partners that quality, care and security are embedded throughout our work.

Looking Ahead

At a time when trust is fragile and inequalities persist, the role of ethical, empathetic research has never been more important. As we move into our fifth decade, we remain committed to championing seldom-heard voices, tackling complex issues and helping organisations make decisions that genuinely improve lives.

A Festive Thank You

As the year draws to a close, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of M·E·L Research’s journey this year, and over the past 40 years.

To our clients, past and present, thank you for your trust and partnership.

To our suppliers and partners, thank you for your collaboration.

To our research participants, thank you for your time, honesty and openness. Your voices make better evidence possible.

And to our amazing team of experts, thank you for the curiosity, care and integrity you show every day.

See you in the New Year for our fifth decade!

Looking for social research or evaluation partner for 2026?

Whether you’re a public body, charity, or organisation looking to understand your audience, evaluate impact, or inform future strategies, we’re here to help.

Get in touch with the M·E·L Research team today via our ‘Get in touch’ form below to see how our expert researchers can support your goals. Alternatively, you can email the team at info@melresearch.co.uk.