Our Fieldwork Team

I am Amy Middleton, Founder and Director of BEAM Fieldwork, which is a title that brings me great pride.

In my 25 years of Market Research, there aren't many parts of the industry that I haven’t encountered. I've been a venue host, a recruiter, a Fieldwork Manager, a Senior Fieldwork Manager, and a Fieldwork Director. I've even dipped my toe into moderating, been a prominent member of the BIG Committee, the ICG, and a full member of the MRS and AQR. This extensive experience is why I decided to start my own Fieldwork Agency, BEAM Fieldwork. 

The company that BEAM Fieldwork is today is far from alike to when it first started. It began with my best friend Vic, both of us working from laptops on the sofa in my home. And in six short years we have grown to a team of 20, and we’re still growing. I’m always on the lookout for new talent and fresh perspectives.

I am often asked why I chose the name BEAM, and the answer is pretty simple. Beams are symbolic of light – of big ideas – because our ideas aren’t small lightbulb moments, they’re beaming white lights. 

Yet, more recently, BEAM has taken on a new meaning to me: that there is always light at the end of a tunnel. When Vic sadly passed away, the BEAMIES (as I like to call them) helped me navigate some tough times. Their ability to provide continuity and set exceptional standards in my absence is a true credit to the team.

BEAM is here to rise to the challenge. As a client, you can rest assured that we are willing to take on the obstacles that other fieldwork agencies shy away from. We are a supportive, resourceful, and trustworthy bunch with a common mission: to set exceptional standards in fieldwork. I believe that we will become integral to the success of your market research projects and we always leave our clients beaming with joy.

My natural habitat is a thriving and creative environment, wherever that may be. It was this – and an epiphany of sorts in late 2018 – that led me over the Pennines to join BEAM.

After 12 long (but amazing) years in a large Leeds-based creative and design agency, I knew I needed a big change and a new challenge. As Senior Account Director, I'd led large, multi-talented teams to take insights, develop creative propositions, and produce advertising campaigns. This included in-store POS and local store campaigns for the likes of Greggs, Asda, Arla, and Sofa Workshop.

After many years of collecting these insights, I realised that I wanted to understand where they came from. I became fascinated by how (at the other end of the chain), we collect, quantify, and qualify data and opinions to shape everything we humans consume daily.

So here I am, at BEAM. With a thriving and growing team. With lots of passion, bundles of energy and an insatiable drive. With the ability to work directly with research functions, in agencies and brands, to develop research projects, recruit the right respondents (even those that are hard to find), and help develop research strategies to produce creative propositions for a whole host business challenges.

Although, when I’m not in work-mode, I'll probably be raving to house music with the kids.

I've thrilled to have been appointed into a new role for BEAM as Director of Fieldwork. As soon as I stepped into the office, I knew it was the right environment for my next career move and overseeing the delivery of all our UK and international fieldwork alongside Amy, Kay and the rest of the team.

I feel most at home directing people and projects. I've got over 25 years' experience in the market research industry under my belt. I've worked for the likes of Toluna and Kantar (in the UK and New York) leading large teams of research professionals, delivering internal change and directing multi-million-pound account management for world-wide brands and companies.

My experience lies mainly in online quant, focussing on delivering insights through global communities and multi-national panels and my former colleagues would likely say I'm a change-maker, having overhauled departments and teams for better efficiencies and rapid delivery.

I'm a recent(ish) resident of Manchester having relocated from London (via New York) with husband and two fur-baby dogs. I'm multi-lingual, have a passion for travel and love to work alongside people with bags of energy.

I've spent the last 2 years working for Give Opinions (BEAM's respondent recruitment company). But I'm stepping up to the challenge and also taking on a more commercial role in BEAM Fieldwork, overseeing quotes, invoices and cost efficiencies in the Fieldwork team too.

As a graduate of Media and Photography, I love all things social and creative. I love talking to people and making them feel at ease. Making someone smile and feeling that I’ve done something to brighten their day is just priceless to me. I guess that’s where my love of recruitment comes to play…

My exposure to recruitment and media across different industries has lent itself nicely to my role within the company. At Give Opinions, we recruit respondents for paid market research on behalf of all kinds of different brands, projects, and people. It is our job to provide clients with the right people for their research and, I must say, I have a great time in doing so.

I love when a client is pleased with the quality of respondents, and the value for money we deliver. It gives me great satisfaction to know we’ve done our job and done it well! I also love the variety of responsibilities and the trust that I am given in handling them.

Over the last 20 years that I’ve worked in recruitment, I’ve lived on 3 different continents, built a wonderful family, and fall in love with my career over and over again. When I’m not busy sourcing the perfect respondents, you’ll find me capturing moments through photography or cooking up a storm with my kids!

Before joining BEAM, I spent 11 years working in hospitality, including several years as a Head Chef. Running busy kitchens taught me a lot about managing people, solving problems quickly and keeping plenty of plates spinning at once, skills that, as it turns out, transfer pretty well to the world of market research.

My introduction to the industry actually came from the other side of the table, when I took part in a research project as a respondent. Not long afterwards, I started doing some ad hoc work with BEAM and have been here ever since. Over the years, I’ve worked across pretty much every part of our projects, progressing from Project Assistant to my current role as Panel & Project Operations Manager.

These days, my role covers everything from managing and growing our Give Opinions community to overseeing recruitment, project delivery and the day-to-day operations that keep things moving. I’ve played a big part in growing Give Opinions into the community it is today, and I particularly enjoy finding new ways to improve how we recruit, communicate with and engage the people who take part in our research.

One of my favourite things about the job is still the variety. I get to work with different clients, projects and people every day, and I’ll take pretty much any excuse to get out from behind the desk and do some fieldwork.

When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me at a pub quiz or on the 5-a-side pitch. I still refuse to give up on my dream of becoming a professional footballer...

Some may say I have the gift of the gab – luckily that's exactly what you need in this job. That, and the ability to spin plates, juggle, stand on your head, improvise at the drop of a hat; and appear cool, calm, and collected (even when you don’t feel it). And I'm thrilled to have been recognised as a 2023 MRS Research Hero.

I started at BEAM as a Project Assistant, worked my way up to Project Manager, and now I’m UK Senior Project Manager. It's great to have a role where no two days are the same, and I love that I get to constantly develop with regular company training and mentoring. Having graduated in 2017 from Manchester Met with a degree in Digital Media and Marketing, I was able to utilise many of the skills I learned and put them to practical use at BEAM.

I am the company’s longest-standing employee (apart from the boss), so it’s safe to say that I know its employees and procedures inside and out. Due to my extensive experience in the field, I thrive leading and managing specialist projects and they are generally the only projects my team and I are assigned to take on. I'm lucky to oversee such a talented team on such specialist projects.

I try to get out on the front line of fieldwork as much as I can; it’s so rewarding to see our hard work in action as the research unfolds. I have been able to travel all over the country and aim to leave no corner of the UK unseen. The relationships I have been able to build with our extended BEAM team in doing this has been invaluable, to both the company and to me. I am always looking forward to deepening my existing connections and creating new ones, whether it be within work or out.

I'm a creative soul, so I'm often painting and drawing. Or you'll find me down at the front of a gig, with a drink in one hand and my other firmly in the air.

At home or at work, hospitality has always been at the heart of everything I do. Whether it be in my degree in International Hospitality and Business Management, my further education in sales and event management, or my twelve years of experience working in 5* hotel account management for Marriott and Rocco Forte Hotels.

As you can probably imagine, exceptional customer service, client liaison, multi-tasking, and attention to detail have always been a huge part of my day-to-day.

So, when the opportunity to join BEAM came up, I jumped at the chance to transfer all the skills I'd previously gained and bring them into the team. I was so excited to join the industry, and be a part of a young and thriving business that I knew I could add value to.

Since joining in October 2019, my expertise in hospitality, events, venues, and sales have been serving me well. I'm able to add value to the experience of our internal processes and procedures, whilst being able to offer insight to our clients who operate in these industries too. Through my promotion to Senior Project Manager in the UK Team, I have also been able to bring my experience of strategic thinking and open mindedness to help support my work colleagues with the overall BEAM vision.

In a typical day at work (if you could say that there are any typical days at BEAM), I communicate with other disciplines within the business, arrange and attend client briefings, check quotas, complete and distribute profile grids, arrange pre-checks, review project finances, and drink lots and lots of coffee!

When I'm not working, you'll find me with my two gorgeous kids, my husband, and my ridiculously large family (I arrange all the outings, of course) with lots of happiness, laughter, and fun.

Every job... Every. Single. Job. I’ve ever had has revolved around phone work and generally chatting to some degree. From my days volunteering with the Samaritans, to today - getting to know respondents and finding the best, most engaged people to take part in research, or if it’s meeting clients and helping take the weight off their shoulders by handing their project over to me. I love getting to know people!

One moment you’re looking for someone who buys a new sofa every 3 months, and the next you’re searching for someone who exclusively eats beans on toast every morning for their breakfast. No day is the same, and it’s perfect for me.

I started market research career, accidentally, picking up a random role as a Fieldwork Exec to pay the bills whilst I studied and completed my counselling accreditation. I fell for quant (quite the surprise given counselling is more qual-focussed), and I've been lucky to manage large-scale in-store observation projects, tracked supermarket pricing (covert and overt) across the UK and ROI, alongside the some of the sublime and obscure qual projects - literally no topic is left unturned!

And now at BEAM I'm officially 'going global', heading up with International Research with co-pilot Amy Cartwright.

Outside of the office, you’ll find me trying to convince my husband to watch a cheesy horror movie, cleaning up mess my very mucky, but very lovely my toddler has made, or attempting to wrangle my indoor cat into a harness so I can finally fulfil my dreams of taking her for a walk outside.

I’ve always worked in people-orientated roles, it’s what feels natural to me and where I thrive, but I’ve never quite experienced anything like being a Project Executive at BEAM.

With my history in hospitality, you’d think I was used to a touch-and-go working environment; rushing plates around, managing employees, juggling pans on a hot grill – you get the idea – but BEAM has brought on so many new and exciting challenges for me to face.

Any day in Market Research is an unpredictable one, and my job role is no exception. Unexpected problems make for creative solutions, quick thinking, and ultimately great strides in my own development. However, growth doesn’t come without nurturing, and I couldn’t be happier with the support and teachings that my team provides daily; there truly are no stupid questions, nor irreparable errors.

One of my favourite things about my job is that we can encounter many projects in a single workweek, each requiring different skills and ways of thinking, so there really is no way to be bored. I spend my days collaborating with our project managers, and I always feel that my ideas are genuinely taken on board and put into practice.

In the future, I hope to understand all aspects of the Market Research industry, rather than limiting my knowledge to just my dedicated field.

As of now (when I’m not at work, of course) I like to spend my time playing with my cats, baking, drawing, or painting.

My main line of work is in film and TV, where I work as a freelance sound engineer. It’s a job that’s taken me onto all sorts of sets and locations, working with different crews and making sure everything sounds exactly as it should, often while dealing with whatever challenges a shoot decides to throw at you that day!

Alongside my sound work, I work with the BEAM team on a freelance, project-by-project basis. It gives me the chance to swap the world of film and TV for market research every now and then, helping the team deliver projects both in the office and out in the field. There’s actually more crossover than you might think, both involve working with lots of different people, thinking on your feet and making sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.

I really enjoy the variety that comes with freelancing and getting to work across two very different industries. One week I might be on a film or TV set, and the next I could be helping BEAM with a research project, so things rarely get boring!

When I’m not working, there’s a good chance I’ll still be making plenty of noise. I’m a drummer and musician and have played in a few different bands over the years. Whether I’m behind a mixing desk or a drum kit, apparently I’ve managed to make sound a fairly big part of my life!

I fell into the role of Fieldwork Support at BEAM sort of by accident; one minute I’m an enthusiastic respondent, the next I’m training to be an interviewer and doing some shifts here and there, then – before I knew it – I found myself in the office and fully immersed in the world of research.

With this being my first office job ever, I must say, I’m very much enjoying the sit down. Before taking on my role at BEAM, I’d worked in a café, worked as a child-minder, and held several volunteering roles. I volunteered in Belize on a marine conservation project, in Peru on an animal sanctuary, and still hold my position as a GirlGuide Leader in Training.

However, just because my job at BEAM doesn’t have me up on my feet, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t keep me on my toes. I spend my days answering phones, screening respondents, transferring information across spreadsheets, editing and formatting documents before they go public, and trying to navigate some of the many challenges that occur in this people-oriented industry.

Every day at BEAM is a school day, and an environment in which my curiosity is always welcomed, encouraged, and responded to in depth. My role has given me the opportunity to think creatively, have my opinions genuinely taken on board, and observe exactly how a successful business runs. My time here has been, and I know will continue to be, invaluable.

And my next steps you may ask? Well, that would be trying to balance my job at BEAM with my studies at Lancaster, where I will be beginning my degree in English Literature and Philosophy. I have no doubt that BEAM will give me beyond adequate support while I embark on this journey. Soon, I am hoping to be a fully qualified Proofreader and Copy Editor, and I look forward to the added value that I will be able to contribute to the company in gaining this.

When I’m not at work, you’ll probably find me spending time with family and friends, studying, in the boxing gym, reading, writing, and winding up my little brother (he loves it really).

My market research career started back in 2007. I worked as Facilities Director at a viewing facility on the outskirts of Manchester, where I quickly found a buzz and real satisfaction from working with people (both clients and respondents alike). This is where I met Amy.

After a short hiatus working for M&S and the NHS, I relished the opportunity to get back into research. So, earlier this year I joined BEAM – happily working alongside Amy once again.

I love the combination of variety and pace at the company. It makes my job stimulating and exciting; no two jobs are ever the same. It’s great to be reconnecting with moderators, recruiters, interviewers, and venues to bring the very best to BEAM.

When I’m not whipping the team into shape around the office, I love nothing better than a good cup of tea, retiring to my new crafting shed, and making and eating delicious home-cooked food.

When I’m not whipping the team into shape around the office, I love nothing better than a good cup of tea, retiring to my new crafting shed, and making and eating delicious home-cooked food.

My father was an accountant, so finance is in my blood. Although my first love was teaching, when Amy asked me to help her with the books at BEAM I jumped at the chance. An opportunity to help my daughter with her fledgling business, what mother wouldn't?

So here I am, after three years of tax returns, hunting credit card receipts, organising the office team, and keeping a grip on the business purse strings. It's wonderful to have my partner in crime/ wine buddy, Deborah (Office Manager) helping me keep the Project Managers in line with the financials on their jobs.

Outside of work, it's all about gin. And friends. Best served together.

We're always on the lookout for talent.

Whether you've got experience or not, if you're ready for a challenge, we’d love to hear from you.

Contact kay@beamfw.co.uk for a chat about your future at BEAM Fieldwork.