Open Windows podcast: exploring client side EDI guidelines
12 February 2025

Nicole Smyth from Holland & Barrett and Clare Woodward from BT talk to Mark Thorpe about the MRS Senior Client Council diversity & inclusion best practice guidelines. 

The guidance under discussion is available here.

Nicole Smyth, Customer Insight, Holland & Barrett
Nicole Smyth is an experienced Insight leader, having worked client-side within a number of UK and Global retailers, including ASDA, George Clothing and Debenhams, and most recently leading Strategic Insights at Holland & Barrett. With a passion for ensuring research is inclusive and representative, Nicole is involved with a number of EDI initiatives, including recently working alongside Clare Woodward (BT) to update the MRS client-side EDI Best Practice guides. Alongside this, Nicole is also leading EDI initiatives within Holland & Barrett to create insight team and agency guidelines focussed on improving representation in all areas of research and analysis.

Clare Woodward, Enterprise Insight Manager, BT
Clare Woodward is an experienced clientside research currently working for BT across B2B and B2C research projects. With a focus on ensuring research and the research industry are inclusive across both practices and culture, Clare is the original author of the MRS Clientside EDI Best Practice guides first published in May 2022 (and believed to the first of their kind!). Working alongside Nicole Smyth (Holland and Barrett) the guides have recently be reviewed and updated and will be relaunched following the MRS Clientside Conference. Clare is also a part of the MRS People and Talent workgroup and chairs the New and Returning Talent subgroup.