Danny Sims
Chairman
Research Team
After graduating with a 2:1 BSc in Sociology and Social Psychology, Danny started his market research career in London (1995) at Business Planning & Research International (BPRI). He then moved to the north and took a job with Business & Market Research (B&MR). Finally, before setting up DJS Research Ltd, he worked in the IT industry (cost management software providers) where he was devastated to find his redundancy letter on the printer after a year!
Picking himself up, Danny set up DJS Research as sole trader working from his spare room in 2001. After the birth of his first child, DJS upgraded to an office in the garden (or a shed as friends sometimes joke!). Since 2001, Danny has helped the company to organically grow every year (including many years of double-digit growth). It now has a turnover over £6.3 million with 100+ permanent and temporary staff. The company has achieved everything on its own (no external funding) and continues to stand out as something different in the industry and as the Market Research Society says "One to Watch!"
Danny strives to make DJS Research a better place to work for everyone. He has helped implement a number of initiatives to improve the company for its loyal staff. To measure the success of these in 2020 the MyDJS employee engagement score increased from 78% to 88%. Still not perfection but getting there!
In July 2021 Danny and Ali (his wife and Research Director at the company) sold the majority of the company to its employees and transitioned the company to become employee-owned ensuring the legacy and independence of DJS Research for years to come - something quite different to the rest of the industry, where independence is rarely seen now.
At the same time as becoming employee-owned he moved into a Chairman role. Danny is part of the new DJS Research Employee Ownership Trust Board which is overseeing the journey of employee ownership and ensuring the company is run in the best interests of its staff (partners). He is also actively working with the new MD of the company, Alasdair Gleed, over the next two years to ensure the smooth handover of daily operations and continuous growth of the company.
As well as helping to ensure that the company is continuing to strive to be a better place to work, Danny is passionate about helping DJS Research stand out and highlighting its position amongst the best research agencies in the UK. To do this he works very closely with the Marketing and Creative Services departments.
Danny is also an experienced qualitative and quantitative researcher and in the past, has conducted research with a range of clients. In particular, he has extensive experience of working within the public sector (education, sport, local councils and central government). Some highlights have included:
- Presenting analysis to the Secretary of State for Education
- Conducting depth interviews at No. 10 Downing Street
- Conducting depth interviews at the Houses of Parliament
- Conducting award-winning research for Leicester City Football Club
He has strong experience in conducting customer satisfaction and public perception surveys within several industry sectors (private and public sector).
Danny has a close association with the Market Research Society where he has been a judge for the Operations Awards for a number of years. He is also now supporting the Employee Ownership Association, beginning with talking at their annual conference about the transition to becoming employee-owned.