Tracking a decade of changing Britain

Peter runs his own business specialising in the fields of decision analytics, modelling and data mining. A mathematician by background, Peter has been closely involved with the development and application of new analytical techniques in marketing and customer value management. This includes some twenty years’ experience in the application of census and other large datasets to the development of geodemographic systems. www.peterfurness.co.uk

David Martin is Professor of Geography at the University of Southampton. For ten years he was Coordinator of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Census Programme and he is now Deputy Director of both the National Centre for Research Methods and the UK Data Service. He has worked for 25 years on the management of geographical population data and was responsible for the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics to design census output areas for the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

No Biography Available

A leading authority on the use of geodemographics, Peter Sleight spent his first ten years in fmcg marketing with Cavenham, Unicliffe and RHM Foods.
He became professionally interested in geodemographics when marketing director at Allen, Brady & Marsh (top-ten London advertising agency); joined CACI as head of consultancy; and later jointly founded PinPoint Analysis.
Since 1991 he has run Target Market Consultancy. Peter chairs the Association of Census Distributors and the Society for Location Analysis.

John Rae is responsible for the planning and implementation of new products, new areas of business and special projects for CACI .


Following a degree in Mathematics he worked for four years doing operational research in the fields of defence and alternative energy. He joined CACI 32 years ago and during his time at CACI he has managed a variety of teams covering areas such as consumer segmentation, retail planning, geographic information systems, European demographics and e-Business.
John leads the development strategy for CACI’s range of data sets covering areas such as geodemographics, demographic change, income, housing, consumer spending, the Internet, and consumer attitudes. He has built consumer classifications for a number of European countries, five generations of the UK Acorn classification, and specialist segmentations such as HealthAcorn and Household Acorn
He pioneered CACI’s modelling approaches to match retail offerings to consumer needs by segmenting branch networks. He also created the first generation of CACI’s retail spatial analysis tool now known as Retail footprint


He is on the Editorial board of the Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing and was a member of the Board of Examiners for the IDM Certificate in Digital Marketing from 2001 to 2006.

Andy Bell is Global Product Manager for Data at Pitney Bowes Software. Andy has accumulated a wealth of experience in geographic and demographic data as well as analytics, leading teams involved in retail location analysis, product development, statistical modeling and GIS. He has previously worked for GMAP, GlaxoSmithKline and CallCredit where he instigated the development of the International suite of CAMEO geodemographic classifications which now covers 37 countries. Andy is currently interested in the development and implementation of data products associated with social media, location and mobile technology.

Paul Longley is Professor of Geographic Information Science at University College London, where he directs the Economic and Social Research Council Consumer Data Research Centre. He has worked extensively on geodemographics over the years.

Chris Gale is in the final stages of completing his PhD at University College London. He has worked in partnership with the Office for National Statistics on creating better area classifications with the 2011 Census, specifically a 2011 version of the Output Area Classification. He has focused on new modes of dissemination that better utilise web technologies and new advances in GIS and geodemographics.

Simon Whalley has a background in geography and geographical information systems (GIS). As part of his Masters dissertation, he helped to put forward the case for using Output Areas for the 2001 Census.
Simon has worked for Beacon Dodsworth Ltd. since 2000. As the Data Manager for the company, Simon’s role involves dealing with all aspects of digital data. This incorporates the creation, cleaning and analysis of data using databases and written software to create; geo-coding products, boundary data sets, drive time databases and data models.
He is the project manager and principal developer of P2 People & Places, which is the company’s geodemographic classification of the UK.

Paul Kennedy leads Callcredit’s Consultancy Team. He has been working with consumer data for over 15 years and is responsible for the strategic application of Callcredit’s consumer data to help clients achieve their marketing goals. Paul has also been closely involved with Callcredit’s initiative to take offline consumer data into an online environment for clients.
He works with clients in a range of consumer sectors including financial services, government, utilities, retail and media. Paul is a frequent speaker at industry events and has published a number of white papers as well as a blog discussing topical consumer data and digital issues. Paul has been with Callcredit for over 6 years and before this he worked at agencies including Experian and PA Consulting.

Heather has wide-ranging experience spanning the private and public sectors. She spent her early career working for innovative high-technology companies, in both technical and corporate roles. She ran a consultancy for five years specialising in business strategy, commercial due diligence and organisational performance improvement.
Heather then worked at a senior level in Whitehall to deliver significant cross-government change programmes, including her work for the Better Regulation Executive to make improvements in regulatory policy design.
Heather holds a Degree in Engineering from Loughborough University and an MBA from London Business School.