Back in 1988, a group of nine transport planners and economists spotted the opportunity to bring some statistical rigour to what they saw as a generally lacklustre and cookie-cutter approach to delivering quantitative research. Through their involvement in transport strategy, at a time when there was growing pressure to close further railway lines, they’d seen that, if you actually asked what passengers needed to use the system and then responded to those needs, the railways could be kept open.
Thirty years on, Accent has grown into a full service, integrated agency, equally proficient in qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Rob Sheldon, our MD, continues to drive the company which is committed to developing new techniques to get to the heart of any client issue. Rob was responsible for bringing the Stated Preference technique (a sophisticated version of conjoint analysis) to the UK in the 1970s and we continue to explore innovative approaches to enhance the richness of the insights we provide for our clients.