About GKA

The GKA Team

GKA now has a team of 50 staff. Our team are the lifeblood of GKA and are the reason we have such a strong reputation for quality and expert project management. Here’s a little bit about our senior team members:

Huw Davies - Client Services Account Manager

Huw studied Business and Management at Manchester University, graduating in 2000. He then followed his passion for travelling and saw most of South East Asia and Australia. After 18 months of all that lying on beaches Huw thought it was time to get a job. He has now been at GKA for 6 years which he can't believe as when he joined he only expected to be here for a couple of months! Huw also enjoys learning about the weird and wonderful medical conditions that are out there. He retains his passion for travel so goes on as many holidays as possible and is currently trying to get fit again.

Zoë Baker - Fieldwork Manager

Zoe attended The University of Exeter and graduated in 2004 with a BA in History. After leaving University Zoe travelled around America and worked at summer camps coaching tennis. Upon her return she worked at Capita and then joined GKA in February 2006. As well as managing projects Zoe has improved the working processes at GKA and investigated many ways to help us all to work smarter and more efficiently. She enjoys reading in her spare time and has famously set up the GKA book club which is a roaring success and now has over 2 members!! She also enjoys squash, tennis and badminton and travelling with her ambition being to go everywhere!

Adam Irwin - Telephone Unit Manager

Adam graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a BA hons in Marketing Management and Business management in 2005. After having some experience in project management in a placement year that involved working for a not for profit research and consultancy agency Adam actively sought out a career in project management. GKA offered this role and Adam accepted. Currently the senior project manager for the telephone and internet team Adam manages the GKA in house telephone interviewers as well as his own project team. He specialises in Quant based research with particular knowledge of online research, CATI and DFU projects. Outside GKA Adam spends time with his daughter, and enjoys playing football week nights and weekends. If only his dedication could be mirrored by his team Spurs, they might win something one day!!

Directors

Lisa Boughton- Operations Director

Lisa attended the University of Gloucestershire and graduated in 2000. She started her working life at GAP and then into the recruitment sector joining GKA in 2005. She started as a project manager working her way up to Operations director. Along the way she has gained extensive experience in all types of Medical Market Research but has a particular interest in patient research. Her skills lie in managing people and staff development. She claims to be obsessively organised and Monica Gellar like when it comes to tidying. In her spare time she loves most if not all sports although her teams have taken a bit of a battering this year as her beloved NUFC were relegated and Gloucester didn't make the play offs - lets just hope she is supporting South Africa and Australia this summer!

Richard Stephens – Sales & Marketing Director

Rich joined GKA in 2001 as a placement student and following a company restructure was awarded the position of Telephone Project Manager. After returning to the University of Gloucestershire to successfully complete his degree in Business and Marketing he rejoined GKA as a Field Project Manager in 2003. In 2005 Richard was promoted to Senior Field project manager, before moving onto Business Unit Manager of the Telephone and Internet department in 2006. Rich was then given the role of Business Development Manager which ultimately led, in 2008, to him being promoted to Business Development Director and subsequently Sales & Marketing Director. He has also achieved his qualification in e-marketing from the CIM. In his spare time Rich enjoys socializing with friends and a game of golf - although we think his favourite hole is the 19th!!

Sophie Zadeh - Managing Director

Sophie graduated from UMIST with a BSc Hons in Management Sciences. She joined GKA as a project manager in 1999 and in her time with the Company has undertaken a number of roles including field management, business development, and internal operations, becoming Managing Director in 2008. Over the last 10 years Sophie has managed many unique and complex studies and has been consistently influential in driving GKA forward. In her spare time Sophie enjoys travelling, alternative sports and, those that know her will appreciate that she enjoys an occasional glass of wine!

Chris Kenny - Chairman

Chris has spent most of his career to date in social housing, being the CEO of Gloucestershire Housing Association for 17 years before taking early retirement in 2004 to concentrate on developing GKA. A Sociology graduate from Sheffield University, he also has an MSc from Cardiff in Strategic Management. Outside of work his interests are wide and varied and include cricket, music, fine wines and flying, though not necessarily in that order!