COO Debrah Harding is promoted to Managing Director at MRS
25 February 2015

Debrah Harding, formerly Chief Operating Officer, has become Managing Director of the Market Research Society (MRS) to reflect her enhanced role and responsibilities.

Debrah now adds responsibility for finance to her previous role heading up MRS operations and continues to leads MRS’s standards, policy and public affairs activities. She reports to CEO, Jane Frost.

Debrah was at the forefront in the creation of the Global Research Business Network, an international association of 38 research associations and 3500 research businesses with US$25 billion in revenues, and is vice-president of the European Federation of Associations of Market Research Organisations (EFAMRO), which lobbies for the European market research sector and promotes best practice and standards.

At MRS Debrah has been a driving force behind the uptake of Fair Data, a trust mark launched in 2013 to build public trust in the collection and use of personal data.

Debrah joined the management of MRS in 1999 to establish a new Standards and Policy department, after five years working in auditing and compliance for the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). She graduated from Southampton University in the early 90’s with an honours degree in Geography before moving into accountancy.

Debrah is the co-author (with Peter Jackson) of the book, Quality in Market Research: from Theory to Practice and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Jane Frost CBE, CEO of MRS said: “Debrah is a leading light on standards and policy in market and social research. With her enhanced role as Managing Director, she will continue to play a vital role advancing and developing the Society’s activities.”