Our Team

With over 22 years of research and consultancy experience, Andy has a strong track record of delivering high-quality assignments for public and private sector clients. He has a diverse portfolio of work covering the arts, culture, and heritage as well as social welfare advice, employability, education, community safety, health, and social care. He has delivered consultancy assignments for a range of clients across the UK including DCMS, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Violence Reduction Partnerships, Carers Trust, English Heritage, Welsh Government, Groundwork UK, Youth Sport Trust, Visit Scotland, Skills for Care, Age UK, The King’s Trust and Arts Council England.

Andy is a specialist in delivering formative and summative evaluation studies and evidence reviews. He has a background in evaluating area-based and community-led regeneration programmes and formative and summative evaluations of capital projects within the heritage sector. In the arts and cultural sector, Andy has worked to increase participation across the sector, assessing programmes aimed at diversifying funding streams and building resilience within arts and cultural organisations.

Andy has hands-on experience in public sector service delivery drawn from roles within the police and the NHS.  He has a strong track record of leading research projects within the health and social care sector, including work exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics in adult social care.

In addition to his undergraduate degree in Geography, Andy has an MPhil in Geography and a Postgraduate Diploma (with distinction) in Urban Policy & Regeneration. He is also a member of the Social Research Association and the UK Evaluation Society. Outside of work Andy takes a keen (friends would say obsessive) interest in local history and is a regular visitor to historic properties and heritage sites. Andy is also a keen cross-fit enthusiast as well as a fanatic football supporter.

Anna is an experienced social researcher, having worked in research and policy consultancy for the past 7 years. She is an experienced project manager and has delivered a wide range of local, regional and national evaluations. Anna’s areas of expertise are wide ranging and include employability and social inclusion, nature-based interventions and connectedness and community regeneration.

Anna is trained in advanced qualitative and quantitative research methods and has delivered countless mixed-method projects for public, private and third-sector clients. In particular, Anna specialises in qualitative research and focuses on developing analytical processes and methods to ensure that qualitative data is captured, analysed, and reported on in an engaging and meaningful way.

Anna joined Wavehill in 2017, and brings a wide range of experience with her, having previously worked at national charity Brook, and Bristol-based drug and education policy think tank, Transform. Anna has a BA (hons) in History and an MSc (with distinction) in Public Policy, both from the University of Bristol.

Beth is a Consultant based in Wavehill’s Newcastle office, with expertise in qualitative research and evaluation across themes including education and skills, poverty prevention, and community-led development. She has worked with a wide range of public and third-sector clients, including the North East Combined Authority, Durham County Council, the Welsh Government, and Groundwork UK.

Beth has strong project management and stakeholder engagement skills. She has managed the evaluation of the Child Poverty Prevention Programme for the North East Combined Authority, working with schools, families, and local delivery partners to assess the impact of early interventions on child poverty. She also led the evaluation of Groundwork UK’s Community Grants Programme, which aimed to support people furthest from the labour market into employment through voluntary and community sector-led provision.

Beth is also experienced in designing sensitive and thoughtful approaches to research with individuals and groups facing complex challenges. She regularly facilitates focus groups, case study interviews, and stakeholder workshops—meaning that the voices of those with lived experience, including individuals facing complex barriers such as mental health challenges and financial hardship, are fully represented in research findings.

Beth holds a BA (Hons) and an MA in Politics and International Relations from Lancaster University and Durham University respectively.

Originally from the Black Country, Charlie joined Wavehill in November 2022 as a Research Consultant following the completion of his Human Geography degree at the University of the West of England. As part of his degree, Charlie conducted a wide-range of research projects, including an assessment of environmental degradation in rural Mallorca and student perceptions of Bristol nightlife. His time at University cumulated with the completion of his final research project, where he utilized his hometown Birmingham as a case study to explore whether the introduction of High-speed rail could be used as a delivery mechanism for urban regeneration.

Charlie's experience with mixed methodologies has enabled him to become proficient in both qualitative and quantitative research and analysis. He also has a wide range of technical experience with GIS spatial data to create maps, SPSS and Excel.

Outside of work, Charlie is an avid fan of independent cinema, live music and his local football club West Bromwich Albion.

Declan is an Economist and Associate Director at Wavehill with a background in project delivery and local government, working in economic development. Bringing various data analysis and economic modelling skills to the team, Declan is an accredited ONS researcher, Declan manages a range of project areas at Wavehill including business support and innovation, employment and skills, renewable energy and place based regeneration. Declan also works across the Wavehill portfolio supporting value for money assessments, including for wellbeing and cultural led initiatives.

Interested in economics for its practical application to ensure resources are being used efficiently and benefits maximised, providing clear project impacts, Declan specialises in quantitative research and using national and international literature and policy to support local economic development. He has led on a number of business cases, funding bids and strategy development, as well as economic impact assessments and a range of project evaluations and policy research. His previous projects include local and national pieces for clients in the private, public and third sector, including Welsh Government and central government departments.

With a 1st Class degree in Economics and Politics, Declan is skilled in report writing and carrying out policy research, manipulating and modelling data in Microsoft Excel, Power BI and ArcGIS and undertaking comprehensive survey designs using Qualtrics.

Originally from Devon, Declan works out of the Wavehill Bristol Office and in his spare time plays national league hockey, while enjoying running, climbing, mountain biking and weekends away in his van.

Nikki has a professional background in heritage and joined Wavehill following the completion of her doctoral research in Landscape Archaeology at University of Exeter. Her academic achievements also include a MA (with Distinction) in Landscape Management and Environmental Archaeology and BA (First Class Hons) in Archaeology (environmental). Nikki worked at Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales for a number of years, where she was responsible for maintaining and updating the National Monuments Record for Wales (NMRW). Her experience as a field archaeologist with commercial archaeology units in England and Wales has equipped her with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the historic environment and the implementation of heritage-focused projects and schemes. She is an active volunteer, as a committee member for the Council for British Archaeology Wales (since 2013) and Secretary of Menter Silian Community Benefit Society (since 2020).

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At Wavehill, Nikki specialises in heritage and community-focused evaluation across Wales, and is passionate about supporting and empowering organisations to become more resilient through their evaluation activities. This includes the co-production of monitoring and evaluation frameworks and supporting organisations to embed data capture and evaluation techniques into their day-to-day practice. Nikki possesses strong qualitative and quantitative research skills and collaborates with clients to develop and tailor research tools for different audiences and stakeholder groups, including those who are harder to reach. Nikki has extensive experience of conducting in-depth interviews for a wide range of research projects. She has excellent report writing skills, ensuring clarity, coherence, and compliance with required standards.

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In her free time, Nikki likes nothing better than exploring early medieval churches and other archaeological sites. She also enjoys spending time in nature and is a keen trail runner (but at a relaxed pace, with plenty of stops to photograph interesting things).

Eddie is an experienced researcher having conducted research projects across numerous sectors and thematic areas. He is particularly interested in research related to education, skills and training, arts and culture and economic development. Eddie has worked with a range of clients across the public sector including local and combined authorities as well as various clients from the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector.

Prior to joining Wavehill, Eddie had a career in teaching and he has a good understanding of the education sector. He has carried out research in schools on various topics including supporting pupils mental health, blended learning and literacy. Eddie is an effective project manager and has skills and experience in all aspects of project delivery including developing methodologies, research tool design, quantitative and qualitative analysis and reporting.

Eddie has an MA in Education and is a member of the Institute of Economic Development.

Emily joined Wavehill as a Research Consultant after completing the first year of her MSc in Social Science Research Methods at the University of Bristol and following an eight-week internship with the company. During her internship, she contributed to projects in areas such as urban regeneration, nature-based interventions, renewable energy, and education and training.

As part of her master’s degree Emily undertook a range of research projects, one of which was a qualitative research project exploring the role of Catholicism in LGBTQ+ Irish migrants’ queer experiences. She analysed interview transcripts using NVivo and applied an inductive thematic approach. Alongside qualitative experience, Emily has strong quantitative skills developed during her MSc and undergraduate Psychology degree, including experience with STATA, SPSS, R, and Excel for large-scale data analysis. Her undergraduate dissertation investigated the relationship between masculine and class-based defaults in STEM organisations and employees’ imposter feelings. This project involved survey design in Qualtrics, moderated mediation analyses, and the presentation of findings to both academic and lay audiences.

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For several years before joining Wavehill, Emily worked in community libraries across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. She credits this experience with sparking her passion for community development and cohesion, having organised and led activities such as children’s craft sessions and storytime events.

Outside of work, Emily enjoys pole dancing, making her own jewellery, and watching The Traitors.

Endaf has 25 years experience in the public, private and third sectors as a company director, project manager and a researcher. He has worked in areas as diverse as employment, youth services and engagement, business support, health and wellbeing, economic impact assessment and the physical and social regeneration of communities. His focus throughout his career has however been on rural development.

Prior to moving into research and evaluation over 15 years ago, Endaf gained valuable experience in both the public and third sectors. He was the Commercial Director at Menter a Busnes (Business and Enterprise) a leading economic development company and social enterprises in Wales. Prior to that, Endaf was employed by the Welsh Development Agency for a period of seven years during which as a Programme Manager he was responsible for a package of community regeneration and business support programmes with an annual budget in excess of £6m.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Endaf lives in Aberystwyth with his wife Siwan and children Megan and Huw.

Greta joined Wavehill having completed her MA in Public Policy at King’s College London. Her Master’s complemented modules taken in her undergraduate Economics degree at the University of Bristol. Here her love for Economics and Policy developed whilst researching Labour, Public, and Environmental Economics in her third year. Through both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, Greta brings experience in quantitative and qualitative research. She understands causal inference techniques, which she draws on from her studies, and include econometric theory, the practical use of Stata to clean and analyse data as well as developing her quantitative skills to evaluate public policy in political economies.

Greta’s Master’s dissertation used a mixed method methodology which entailed researching the political causes of Spain’s adoption of menstrual leave policy in February 2023. Along with her interest in gendered labour market outcomes, Greta became focused on health policy during her internship at the Policy Institute in the Health Team. During this time, she gained experience in policy scoping for projects focused on reforming maternity services to reduce the harms and costs of preterm births in the UK.

Outside of work, Greta enjoys going to art galleries, running, and swimming.

Hannah originally joined Wavehill in 2002 as Wales’ office manager and is our longest serving employee. Since starting a family a few years ago, she returned to work on a part time basis as an administrator and works alongside Tracy delivering administrative and technical support to ensure company research and evaluations are undertaken to the highest possible standards.

Hannah has an extensive background in customer services, administration and management and plays a vital role in the coordination of all of Wavehill’s work.

Outside of Wavehill, Hannah helps run a family business as well as looking after her 2 young boys. When she does get any spare time, her favourite thing is to walk the beautiful costal path in Ceredigon where she lives.

Ioan is an experienced project manager having led on numerous evaluations and research projects across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on business support and skills development programmes.

In recent years Ioan has led on evaluating some of the flagship support programmes for the food and drink sector in Wales alongside a macro-level review of projects and schemes funded under the Rural Development Programme (RDF) to help inform Welsh Government support provision post-RDP funding in 2023.

He has an in-depth understanding of the social business sector, particularly in Wales, having led on the last three biennial census exercises to map out the scope, scale, and health of the sector, alongside several strategic reviews focusing on areas such as employee-ownership.

Ioan has been heavily involved in several projects focusing on Welsh language planning and services, covering areas such as the relationship between economic and Welsh language development, an evaluation of a hyper-local online Welsh news site, and a study for the Welsh Language Commissioner on the importance of supporting people living with dementia through the language medium of their choice.

He has led several research and innovation evaluations focused on collaborative research projects between industry and academia in areas as diverse as photonics, to a review of the flagship SMART Cymru project. He has also been involved in much of Wavehill’s recent work around employability support and support for young people at risk of becoming NEET.

Ioan is a first-language Welsh speaker from Carmarthenshire, and graduated from Aberystwyth University in 2012 with a BA in History and Welsh History. Outside work, Ioan is an avid supporter of the Welsh national football team and enjoys following the team around Europe and further afield.

Jakob joined Wavehill having completed his MSc in International Social and Public Policy at the London School of Economics. During his Master’s he developed his skills in both qualitative and quantitative aspects of social research, focusing particularly on research design for policy and programme evaluation.  His master’s dissertation explored socio-economic conditions that allow societies to achieve social objectives while avoiding unsustainable environmental footprints.

His undergraduate degree was in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Warwick, and he fostered an interdisciplinary approach to analysing social problems and gained skills in quantitative data analysis. He applied these to both his undergraduate and postgraduate research, using STATA to analyse large datasets.

During his studies, Jakob spent time working as a Programme Evaluation Assistant, focusing on projects at the intersection of culture and sustainable development. He also interned for a British-Cambodian anti-trafficking NGO. At the University of Warwick, he founded the Homelessness Action Society, which supports local charities with volunteering activities.

In his free time, Jakob enjoys competing at the local parkrun and cooking foods from around the world. On the weekends he can be found staying up too late to watch American football matches and supports the Seattle Seahawks.

Jaz is an Office Administrator, based in the Aberaeron office. She graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University having studied Advertising and Marketing Management. Before working at Wavehill, Jaz worked in a family run retail business in New Quay for 6 years.

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Jaz’s primary responsibilities include identifying tender opportunities and preparing submissions for bids. She is responsible for administrative tasks and activities that ensure the smooth and timely running of projects, so they are consistently delivered to the highest possible standards. She also uses her marketing knowledge and skills from her degree to support marketing activities.

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Jaz grew up and still lives in New Quay, West Wales. In her spare time she enjoys walking or using her paddleboard when the sun decides to come out. She enjoys baking, is a huge Marvel fan and constantly listens to music.

Karen has worked as part of the Wavehill Research Team for 17 years. During this time, she has gained vast experience conducting telephone and face-to-face interviews with a wide variety of different people, sectors and industries. She has a good understanding of the different approaches needed to suit each audience. For example engaging with senior business people to have detailed conversations about their business operations and adapting to speak with children in nursery school settings. Karen specialises in engaging with communities and cohorts considered as hard-to-reach, including those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

Achieving the highest quality possible from her research work is of paramount importance to Karen.  She is involved in pre-testing all questionnaires before they go live and is also trained in using CAPI and CATI software. Karen also provides occasional support in proof reading reports. This she believes helps her to gain a better, more in-depth understanding of the social, political and economic context of the research that Wavehill undertakes and those that she interviews.

Katy joined Wavehill as a Research Consultant following the completion of a Geography degree at Durham University and a Master’s degree in Social Research at Newcastle University. Her academic and professional experience has focused on inclusive and participatory research approaches, with expertise in engaging communities whose voices are often underrepresented within research and evaluation activity.

Katy is skilled in both qualitative and quantitative research methods and has experience applying creative and participatory approaches to capture lived experiences and community perspectives. She also has experience using GIS and spatial analysis to support place-based research and evaluation. Her work is grounded in developing accessible, ethical, and proportionate research approaches that generate meaningful insight for clients and participants alike.​

At Wavehill, Katy has worked across a range of projects relating to heritage, place-based regeneration, health and wellbeing, and environmental engagement, with a particular interest in understanding how community participation can strengthen social outcomes and connection to place.

In her free time, Katy likes exploring Northumberland’s natural offerings, visiting Donzoko taproom, and telling other southerners to defect to the North East.

Laura joined Wavehill's in-house research team in February 2020 as a researcher. She is based in Aberaeron and is a Welsh-speaker. Laura has a wealth of experience in undertaking interviews via Teams or via telephone. From short case studies to in-depth interviews, she enjoys working on different projects. From farmers to scientists, Laura is able to put people at ease which is invaluable, and adjust her style when speaking to different cohorts of people.

Louise is our Operations Manager and has been with Wavehill since 2007. Her primary role is to help to ensure that the business is operating as efficiently as possible, ensuring cost-efficiency is prioritized and proper processes are in place to ensure we run as efficiently and effectively as possible.

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As well as working closely with the accounts department to ensure all non-project-related costs such as utilities, insurance, etc. are suitable for the business, she also works closely with the Directors, Senior Consultants, Consultants, and Associates to coordinate the delivery of projects and contracts within the company. Louise also manages the in-house administration and research team.

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Louise is Prince 2 trained ensuring that all projects delivered by Wavehill are done so following those principles. She was instrumental in Wavehill achieving ISO 9001:2015 certification and now leads the internal audit process. She is also responsible for maintaining other company standards such as Cyber Essentials, and Good Work Pledges. She is also responsible for the management of data protection within the company.

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Before joining Wavehill Louise worked in Canada and then returned to the UK to set up her own business. She also has a portfolio of experience covering nine years working in tourism, as an NVQ Assessor and trainer and an excellent background in telephone interviews and customer services.

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Outside of Wavehill Louise enjoys yoga, reading, and eating out with her husband where they live in New Quay.

Marianne has 12 years’ experience in the public and private sectors as a qualitative researcher, project manager and consultant. She has industry experience in the wind energy sector, as well as managing a range of projects in the public sector. She also has four years’ experience in consultancy leading on both UK-based and European projects in diverse sectors such as social housing, transport, regeneration, economic development, and the transition to net zero.

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Prior to research and project management, Marianne initially trained as a translator with a first-class BA from University College London in Nordic languages. After a brief spell working in Helsinki as a translator, she completed a part-time MSc. in European politics and EU policy at Birkbeck College, University of London, with a particular focus on climate change and energy security. She is currently completing part-time a second MSc. in Urban and Regional Planning at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, to complement her role as Senior Consultant.

Outside of work, Marianne is a keen musician (cellist) and involved in various projects in the local music scene.

Meg is an experienced Senior Consultant at Wavehill, with research and evaluation expertise relating to nature and biodiversity, protected landscapes, young people and education, connecting people to nature. Megan offers excellent project management skills, having led teams of analysts for clients including the Protected Landscapes Partnership, Defra, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Government, Historic England, and Groundwork UK.

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Megan has excellent knowledge of the environmental policy landscape. She was the Lead Analyst for the programme evaluation of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, which involved strategic oversight of monitoring information and programme indicators over 90 funded projects. Her work in the education sector includes a review of eFSM as an indicator of socioeconomic disadvantage amongst learners for the Welsh Government and research on the resilience of the third-sector youth organisations in Bristol.

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Meg is a strong multi-disciplinarian, with an ability to triangulate qualitative, quantitative, and spatial data to communicate meaningful, interesting research findings. Meg holds a Master’s in Advanced Quantitative Methods (MRes), and her technical expertise is complemented by her excellent grounding in qualitative methods, having completed a range of consultation analyses for the Welsh Government and Scottish Governments. She has a range of experience in data analysis, with particular strength in large and unstructured datasets using SPSS, NVivo, R, and Python.

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When Megan's not in the London office she can be found in the Peak District where she lives, either running, cycling, climbing, swimming, or brewing a coffee. Megan is also a member of a choir, as well as a proud French speaker, and a tentative Welsh learner.

Michael joined Wavehill as a Senior Consultant with five years of experience working in economic development, regeneration and related fields. He is an experienced project manager specialising in local, regional and national evaluations, socio-economic impact assessments and appraisals. As a result, he has had the opportunity to work with a range of clients and organisations comprising of central government departments, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, universities, sector bodies and the private sector. Michael brings expertise across a range of policy areas, including business and sector support, research and innovation, energy and low carbon studies, and place- and culture-led regeneration.

Prior to consultancy work, Michael worked as a Research Assistant at the Bank of England where he gained experience with data collection, manipulation and analysis, using multiple statistical software, building from his academic background. He is an expert at presenting results clearly, effectively, and succinctly to key decision makers.

Michael completed both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree in Economics at the University of Bath and University College of London, respectively. He is also a member of the UK Evaluation Society and was one of 50 mentees in the 2017/18 Global EvalYouth Initiative which aimed to promote the next generation of evaluators worldwide.

Outside of work Michael enjoys travelling, discovering new restaurants and trying and failing at most sports including water-based sports despite his inability to swim.

Oliver has been involved in economic development and regeneration for over 20 years, both as a practitioner and as a consultant.  He has worked in consultancy for the last 14 years, managing and delivering a variety of initiatives: developing strategies, undertaking economic impact assessments and appraisals, and conducting project, programme and organisational evaluations. He has delivered work on behalf of Central Government Departments, various departments of the Welsh Government, Local and Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships in addition to work on behalf of the private and third sectors.

His areas of expertise are wide ranging, encompassing; business support, innovation and enterprise, employability and workforce skills, renewables and physical regeneration.

Prior to consultancy, Oliver worked for the South West Regional Development Agency where he was involved in managing economic development projects and supporting strategic and partnership development in relation to enterprise, business support, skills and innovation. Prior to this, Oliver was employed as Strategy Officer for Sussex Enterprise where he managed a variety of European funded business support and enterprise projects and led on the development of the Business Link delivery plan in Sussex.

In addition to his undergraduate degree in Geography, Oliver has a Masters (with distinction) in Local and Regional Economic Development. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Member of the Institute of Economic Development, of the UK Evaluation Society and of the Social Value network.

Oliver has a particular love for the outdoors and in his spare time, when he isn't ferrying his children around, you'll typically find him on (or in) the river/sea or at the beach.

Following the completion of his MSc in Business Analytics at University College London, Owen joined Wavehill as an intern before progressing into a full-time role as a Research Consultant.

During his master’s degree, he developed a strong interest in applying analytical methods to support evidence-based policy and organisational decision-making. He gained experience using Python and R for statistical analysis, predictive modelling, and data visualisation.

Prior to this, Owen completed a First-Class degree in Economics at the University of East Anglia, where he developed experience in econometrics, statistical analysis, and policy-focused research. Using STATA and R, he undertook econometric and panel data analysis projects, including research exploring wage dispersion and player performance in Major League Baseball. During his undergraduate studies, he also spent a year abroad at the University of Notre Dame.

Alongside his studies, Owen gained experience across research, finance, and data science roles. He worked as a Research Assistant at Aberystwyth University, supporting qualitative research and stakeholder engagement projects, and later completed internships in financial services and data science, developing experience in modelling, automation, and scenario analysis.

Outside of work, Owen enjoys mountain biking, walking in the Welsh countryside, and playing hockey and football. He is also a proud Welsh speaker.

Paula is Wavehill's lead analyst with over 11 years’ experience in designing quantitative and qualitative surveys, carrying out data analysis and creating data visualisations on evaluation and research projects across the public and private sector. Her work regularly involves carrying out data manipulation, creating accessible data tools, dashboards and visualisations to assess outputs, impacts and outcomes on work spanning the Wavehill portfolio.

As well as extensive statistical and quantitative skills, Paula is also very experienced in quantitative data analysis having conducted assessments on extensive datasets for high profile clients. In addition to monitoring and evaluation, Paula's work regularly supports Wavehill's wider portfolio including social value, consultation analysis, business case development and economic impact.

Experienced in converting survey data to useable evidence, Paula uses software such MS Excel, Google data studio, Power BI and Tableau to manipulate and visualise data. Paula is adept at producing creative and accessible reporting formats, such as infographics, to communicate key project findings to broader audiences in alternative, and more engaging and impactful ways.

Paula's creativity continues outside of work where she enjoys painting and playing the piano, as well as a good coast path or countryside walk.

Paula has 20 years accountancy experience and has been a Fellow of the Association of Accounting Technicians since 2007. She manages all aspects of Wavehill’s finances and accounts as well as running her own bookkeeping and accountancy service business.

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Paula enjoys spending time with her family in her free time, especially now that she is a Nana. She also likes going on runs and walks in the West Wales countryside, as well as attending newly discovered festivals.

Our in-house research team specialise in the collection of quantitative data and qualitative insights that is statistically robust. This in turn creates a stronger evidence base for you and gives you a greater depth of understanding and context for your project. The team are specialists in drawing out key evidence for your scheme or initiative through our interview process. They have a wealth of expertise in one-to-one interview techniques across different cohorts of people, sectors, and industries; from businesses, academics, and researchers to community and hard-to-reach groups.

​Drawing on their vast experience, the research team are actively involved in the questionnaire design process. They work closely with the lead consultant to ensure an interviewer’s perspective on all our research approaches, this also ensures a greater understanding of your target audience. Through this collaborative process we ensure ethical research standards are maintained and accessibility requirements considered.

​Our focus is in delivering consistent high-quality research to you. For each project, we hold a half-day interviewer briefing workshop where your draft questions are discussed, pre-tested and piloted prior to ‘live’ use. The interview process is planned and monitored daily to ensure delivery within time scales. In addition, we undertake data checks during and at the end of the interview process to ensure high levels of quality assurance. All members of the research team are trained in the use of industry standard computer-aided interview systems such as CAPI (Computer Aided Personal Interviewing), CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing) and CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing).

Rhys is a consultant based in Wavehill’s Bristol office with extensive experience evaluating business support, employability, and skills projects. He has managed and supported several multi-project and national-level evaluations for local authority clients and the Welsh Government, including several UKSPF programme evaluations and evaluations of Working Wales and Jobs Growth Wales+. Trained as a quantitative researcher with an MSc from the London School of Economics, Rhys has been able to deploy quasi-experimental research methods in several evaluations and is comfortable working with large-scale datasets.

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As a proud Welsh speaker with experience working as a social researcher for the Welsh Government, Rhys brings a multidisciplinary approach to his research work and is keen to contribute across a broad range of policy areas and methodologies. He has managed and delivered research on food poverty, agriculture, public art, workplace wellbeing, and the Welsh language.

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Rhys has combined his range of qualitative and quantitative skills to undertake several holistic impact assessments for large organizations in Wales, measuring and outlining the economic and social contributions of Mentera, the business support provider, and S4C, the national broadcaster.

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Outside of the Bristol office, Rhys can be found running, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or trying to convince his friends and colleagues that Taskmaster is the best TV show of all time.

An economics graduate from UWE Sarah has a detailed understanding of research design, conducting interviews and quantitative data analysis. Specialising in evaluations involving young people and hard-to-reach groups, she has delivered many evaluations and research pieces including issues such as youth provision, youth crime, employability, and other evaluation topics.

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Sarah works on projects across the Wavehill portfolio, both in the North-East and the rest of the UK, with clients in the public and third sector looking at violence prevention, nature connection and engagement with heritage, to name a few. Sarah has over 12 years’ experience working as a youth worker and mentor with young people from many different backgrounds.

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With a focus on qualitative research, Sarah has experience of critically evaluating data in ways that contribute to learning and enable sustainable change. Within this, she is well-versed in liaising with a variety of stakeholders and communities through various participatory methods, to ensure the research findings are representative of those they are impacting.

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Outside of work, Sarah spends her time travelling to numerous gigs and festivals, going to the gym or on outdoor adventures.

Şimal joined Wavehill as a research consultant after achieving a first-class Bachelor’s degree in History from Durham University. She currently specialises in projects within Arts & Culture, Health & Social Care, Place-based Regeneration and Heritage, with a particular interest in projects exploring cross-border connections and shared histories between Wales and Ireland. She has made significant contributions towards evaluative reports for clients such as the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts & Business Scotland and Pembrokeshire County Council.

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Since starting her role at Wavehill, Şimal has demonstrated her strengths at conducting thematic analysis of qualitative data and producing high-quality outputs for tenders and evaluative reports. As well as her history specialisation, Şimal also holds qualifications in research-oriented disciplines such as Sociology and Psychology, and had therefore entered the role with a strong understanding both of how research can be analysed and the avenues by which it can be conducted.

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Before her graduation, she held a short tenure as an instructors assistant at a private tutoring company. Here she supported reception-age children in learning basic literacy and numeracy skills, an experience which prepared her for her later contribution towards Education and Social Prescribing projects.

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In her free time, Şimal lives by the three C’s; cooking, crochet and chatting to unwilling bystanders about odd history. She holds a special interest in the Late Ottoman and Early Cumhuriyet (Republic) eras.

Tony joined Wavehill in 2016 after a career in teaching. He graduated from Aberystwyth University with a degree in History and a PGCE in Secondary Education. Tony is a Welsh speaker and is very experienced in undertaking interviews with a wide variety of cohorts. Tony has a good understanding of the different approaches needed to suit each audience.

As part of his role as Senior Researcher Tony is involved in the creation of our evaluations in Welsh and English in Qualtrics, analysing qualitative and quantitative data and co-ordinating the activities of the Research Team.

Tracy joined Wavehill in 2007, following a career with American financial institute Chemical Bank and as a Project Manager with Virgin Media.

One of her primary responsibilities is the identification of new tender opportunities working alongside the Consultancy Team in the preparation and submission of bids.  Other responsibilities include arranging interviews and appointments for consultants and managing various other administrative activities that ensure the smooth and timely running of projects.

In her spare time Tracy enjoys Pilates, walking her dog along the nearby beaches and visits to the local cinema.