Our Team
Click each profile to read their full bio
Karl Dalgleish
Company Director
Karl Dalgleish
BSc (Hons) Dip TP MPhil MRTPI
Study Director, Master-Coach, Economic Development Consultant, Facilitator and Programme Strategist, Appraiser and Evaluator.
Career History
Karl Dalgleish is a Chartered Town Planner with over 28 years’ experience in economic development in the public and private sector. Since 2011 he has been a director of Kada Research – a niche practice focusing on UK and International programme evaluation and strategy development and impact assessment. For seven years he was a director at ekosgen working on many economic strategies and evaluations for UK authorities and partnerships. Previously, as an Associate Director at ecorys, he worked on pan-EU assignments. He started his career as a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University at the Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research.
Strengths
His particular strengths are in business improvement, enterprise, innovation and technology, low carbon and renewable energy, ICT and technology, health and housing, innovation, public policy and sectors/clusters. He has assessed many social, employment and skills programmes too and has expertise around social inclusion and culture. He has worked on the economic impact of economic shocks and recovery programmes.
Experience
He has worked extensively for the LEP network across England, UK governments and Government bodies and institutions. He has also worked for private and third sector clients and on urban and rural development. Karl has managed and directed many regional, UK and International assignments. He is a trustee of a homeless charity in Sheffield, the Cathedral Archer Project.
Skills
Karl’s skills include: facilitation and negotiation; coaching; qualitative and quantitative analysis; strategy and policy development; economic impact assessment; report writing, appraisal, and analysis; presentation; project management; business planning; managing and working to deadlines.
Outside of Work
Karl loves swimming and walking. He is married to Jan and has a daughter Keira and dog called George. He enjoys film, art, and travel.
Interesting Fact
Karl spent a year in Israel and Egypt starting on a Kibbutz.
Sam Nair
Associate Director
Sam Nair
BSc (Hons) MSc
Study Director, Economic Development Consultant, Place-based Strategist, Sustainability and Innovation Researcher, Economic Analyst and Evaluator.
Career History
Sam Nair is an Associate Director at Kada Research with over 12 years’ experience in urban, rural and regional policy, economic development, and sustainability research and consultancy. Prior to joining Kada Research Sam was Principal Consultant at Urban Foresight, where he worked for four years, leading on strategy development, futures reports, and business cases. His focus was on supporting places to develop the skills and infrastructure needed to benefit from global trends and technological change in an inclusive and sustainable way. Directly before Urban Foresight Sam worked for sustainability consultants epi, supporting global telecoms brands to embed sustainability in their supply chain. For three years as Senior Consultant at TBR Sam worked on sector studies, labour market analysis and evaluations for UK authorities and partnerships. Previously, as an economic analyst for the charity Sustrans, he worked on multi-year evaluations to report the economic, social and health impacts of infrastructure. Sam started his career in the policy and think-tank world with spells at Forum for the Future and Centre for Cities. Sam gained a BSc in Geography with Economics and an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies, both from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Strengths
His strengths are in applying a systems approach which understands the holistic nature of places and their economy, environment and people. He applies cross-sector learning and a multi-disciplined approach to economic strategy development, business improvement, enterprise, innovation and technology, low carbon and renewable energy, technology and innovation, smart cities and built environment and sectors/clusters. A key strength is stakeholder engagement and recognising how qualitative insight can tell the story which data alone cannot.
Experience
He has worked extensively for national, regional and local government across the UK. He has developed successful concepts and funding bids for industrial innovation centres, developed net zero plans, and created tools to help public sector decision makers. Sam has worked on evaluations, sector mapping, and skills analysis in many niche sectors. He has engaged stakeholders ranging from presenting to and facilitating discussions with heads of global insurance companies at the Lloyd’s of London insurance market to running focus groups with primary school children in deprived communities, and all types of public and private sector organisations in-between in both rural and urban settings.
Skills
Sam’s skills include: qualitative and quantitative analysis; strategy and policy development; economic impact assessment; environmental analysis, Green Book business cases, report writing; presentation; project management; business planning; managing and working to deadlines.
Outside of Work
Sam has a passion for sports, participating some and watching more. He enjoys visiting places, whether cycling in remote Northumberland, walking the centres of global mega-cities, or spending a weekend in less-visited English towns to watch football. At home, Sam battles for space on the sofa with two cats (if they aren’t watching the two guinea pigs) in order to read a spy-thriller or classic crime novel, when he should probably be tending to the allotment. All the above require a strong long black coffee.
Interesting Fact
Sam was captain of the London School of Economics table tennis team. Fluent in the lingua franca of the sport he has played matches in places ranging from Cotswold villages to Guangzhou in China.
Costas Georgiou
Principal Economist
Costas Georgiou
BSc (Hons) MSc PGDip
Study Economist, project and strategic advisor, Mentor, Senior researcher and evaluator.
Career History
Costas Georgiou is an economy consultant with significant experience in economic research and European funding. He has worked for the public and private sectors, universities and third sector initiatives. Costas started work as a researcher in a Development Corporation working on building design and transport mobility in Milton Keynes. Later he worked on local strategy and master planning in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, and helped deliver an £800m European programme. Since 2011, he has run Local Economy Matters, a consultancy specialising in socio-economic assessments and fund applications. Having worked as an associate for many years, Costas joined Kada Research in January 2019.
Strengths
His strengths are in socio-economic analysis and primary research for area-based local economies; undertaking impact assessments and technical evaluations; project managing and delivering public, private and third sector initiatives; supporting funding bids; and strategic planning and evidence gathering for socio-economic programmes.
Experience
Costas’ experience includes working for 11 years on lobbying, negotiating with the European Commission and helping to deliver one of the UK’s largest European programmes, South Yorkshire Objective 1. He has worked on Objective 2, RECHAR and RESIDER; and on PHARE advising in Hungary and Bulgaria. He has also been deputy manager on a community initiative for the long-term unemployed; principal researcher at Sheffield City Council; equality lecturer; and head of strategy at Sheffield City Region.
Skills
Costas’ skills include: project management; socio-economic assessment; policy and strategic development; primary and secondary research; survey design and analysis; impact assessment; management of external consultants; report writing; funding applications; management of human resources; and an eye for detail.
Outside of Work
Costas enjoys traveling, photography and reading, and also walking and cycling with his more fascinating family and friends.
Interesting Fact
Costas once owned a family of unsociable alpacas.
Bridget Bradbury-Hickey
Research Consultant
Bridget Bradbury-Hickey
BA Economics and French
Career History
Bridget joined KADA Research at the start of September 2021 after graduating from the University of Sheffield with an Economics and French degree. Throughout her studies, Bridget enjoyed statistics modules and modules on mathematical methods for Economics. In her final year, she completed an Econometrics project using statistical software to analyse data from the Land Registry and Household and SME finances at postcode level in order to look at the effect of the Help to Buy policy on property prices and mortgages across the UK.
Key Strengths and Experience
Bridget’s key strength is quantitative analysis, used to inform impact studies. Since joining KADA she has undertaken desk-based research and a labour market analysis for a current project. Also, as a linguist, Bridget is a confident and dependable communicator. She was employed by the University of Sheffield as a Student Alumni coordinator to keep contact with Sheffield alumni and encourage them to donate to funding for scholarships and grants.
Outside of Work
Outside of work, Bridget loves both watching and playing sport especially cricket, netball and tennis. The summer before starting at KADA she worked at Wimbledon. She played for the Women’s Cricket Team at university. Bridget is also a keen musician and plays the piano, clarinet, ukulele, and sings. She loves travelling and managed to do a great deal of it in Europe whilst on her year abroad which she spent in Bordeaux in the Southwest of France working as an English language assistant in two secondary schools.
Interesting fact
At university, Bridget performed in two French plays!
Emma Thomson
Associate
Emma Thomson
BA (Hons) Researcher, Evaluator, facilitator and strategy developer
Career History
Emma Thomson has over 25 years’ experience in economic, strategy and policy development and education. Her career began north of the border at Scottish Enterprise before moving to London where she worked for an education business partnership and the business campaign group London First before becoming Head of Strategy at the London Development Agency.
Since 2007, Emma has been a freelance consultant and lecturer. Her varied client portfolio includes the charity sector, universities, sports businesses, public sector bodies and the health sector. Emma also works regularly with Kada Research on evaluation and strategy development.
Strengths
During her time working with Kada Research, Emma has developed knowledge and expertise in a number of sectors including low carbon and renewable energy, ICT and technology, creative and cultural and health. She has worked on a number of innovation projects, economic development strategies and large scale evaluations of business development, innovation and low carbon programmes.
Experience
Her extensive work with Kada Research has covered the LEP network, local authorities across England and Wales, City Regions and the university and health sectors. Her wider portfolio has included a range of private, public and third sector clients from homeless healthcare charities to motor racing circuits.
Skills
Emma’s skills include: facilitation and lecturing; mentoring; communication; qualitative and quantitative analysis; strategy and policy development; economic impact assessment; report and case study writing; interviewing and consultation; presentation; project management; working to deadlines.
Outside of Work
Emma’s big passions are dancing and Formula 1. She attends dance classes in lots of different styles including ballroom, street commercial, contemporary and hip-hop. Emma has been lucky enough to attend Grand Prix all over the world. She also loves reading, walking and travel.
Interesting Fact
Emma occasionally writes about Formula 1 using the moniker Dancing Petrolhead.
Mark Beresford
Associate
Mark Beresford
BA (Hons) Modern Languages; PGDip International Marketing; MBA Lancaster University
International business development expert; international trade and inward investment consultant; technology and smart cities specialist.
Career History
Mark’s career has been built up in both the UK and overseas through commercially focused assignments in international business development, project management and consultancy with blue chip businesses, SME and public sector organisations. Mark co-founded Kinetic Cubed, an international trade and inward investment consultancy in 2005, specialising in providing high quality international business solutions to economic development agencies and private sector customers. He has worked for Lancaster University on a science and technology led, collaborative R&D project with China.Since 2016 he has acted as contracted specialist and advisor to the Dept. for International Trade’s Technology & Smart Cities team supporting UK technology companies in their global go-to-market strategies and policy makers on international market access, tech sector knowledge and international expansion issues.
Strengths
Mark’s key strengths are in international trade, inward investment and innovation related projects. He has worked in industries including advanced manufacturing, professional services (consulting), higher education and Government, and across many sectors including technology and digital, low carbon, advanced manufacturing and smart cities. He has an entrepreneurial and practical mindset, and has built a network of global contacts and connections. He has carved out an excellent reputation in delivering international trade, inward investment, sector mapping and programme evaluation projects for both UK and international clients.
Experience
With over thirty years’ international business development and consulting experience, including over fifteen years in front end commercial and management roles, Mark has worked for global blue-chip companies in the UK and Europe, and has conducted projects in every corner of the globe. Together with founding colleagues, he has built successful boutique consultancy Kinetic Cubed, delivering international consultancy to UK and economic development organisations including the Department for International Trade, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Copenhagen Capacity, Commonwealth Secretariat, Invest New Zealand and Invest in France to name but a few.
Skills
Mark’s skills include research and mapping, idea development and action planning, international strategy development and stakeholder consulting. He has a natural affinity at working with commercially led economic development organisations in the delivery of important projects in both the public and private sector and is at ease operating at the interface of both. He is a skilled communicator and able to empathise with business people of all backgrounds, from CEO to factory floor, in a professional, tactful and hands-on manner.
Outside of work
Mark is a skilled and passionate martial artist and teaches at his local club in Lancashire.
Interesting fact
Early in his career, Mark spent a long weekend in Svalbard (or Spitzbergen, which is inside the Arctic circle) with Norwegian clients and managed to collide with one of them whilst learning the ropes on a snow scooter. Fortunately, there were no injuries and the matter of the bent skidoo was settled with a large dose of Aquavit over dinner and a discount off the next shipment!
Pat Coupar
Research Consultant
Pat Coupar
MA (Politics), PGCE (History), MSC (URP – Awaiting award)
Career History
Having graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MA in Politics Pat started his career with the Co-operative Bank before embarking upon a thirteen-year teaching career. Initially teaching in Somerset he returning to Sheffield in 2013 to teach at All Saints School in Sheffield. During his time in education, he undertook a variety of different roles including Head of Department, Head of House, and Strategic Leader. In 2020 he embarked on a career change following up his passion for urban form, design, and social and economic planning. Graduating from the University of Sheffield in 2021, with a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning Pat joined KADA in September 2021.
Strengths and Experience
During his URP Masters Pat developed a strong understanding of housing, transport, and urban planning policy, complimenting his existing strengths of UK governance and policy, and education. Interviewing and report writing, informed by quantitative and qualitative research, were a key aspect of his work within education, as was monitoring and implementing national policy changes. His recent dissertation was focused upon regional attempts to improve air quality through reduced car usage, with other research focused upon housing affordability, spatial planning strategies, and urban regeneration.
Outside of Work
Pat enjoys spending time with his family. He has three young children and as a family they spend much of their time out in the Peak District walking, exploring, and cycling. He plays rugby for Sheffield Rugby Club, enjoys reading, sport, and cooking.
Interesting Fact
Pat was born with a hole in his lung and has an artificial skin graft on his chest.
Gill Featherstone
Associate
Gill Featherstone
Gill Featherstone has 15 years’ experience working in the research, evaluation and consultation sector. She began her career as an intern with the Groundwork Trust in Oldham and Rochdale where she led community development projects and mentored young people taking part in the Prince’s Trust Leadership course. This was followed by a role at the City of Lincoln Council where she developed community development strategies and led on consultations for the planning and communities’ departments.
For seven years Gill was a Researcher and Research Manager at the National Foundation for Educational Research where she undertook large scale evaluations for clients such as the Department for Education, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Local Government Association. Gill has been a freelance research consultant for seven years and regularly works with clients including the Charities Evaluation Service, University College London and Kantar Public.
Strengths
Gill has extensive experience of designing and delivering evaluations and is an experienced interviewer and focus group facilitator.
She enjoys pulling together data and producing clear and concise reports and enjoys the challenge of desk research such as literature reviews. Key areas of interest in the field of education include whole school and system change, staff and student wellbeing and mental health, disengagement, post-16 skills, work experience, special educational needs, metacognition and neurodiversity.
Experience
Since joining Kada, Gill has worked on several evaluations, including that of an NHS digital transformation project and another exploring the impact of a regional growth hub.
Skills
Gill’s skills include project management, face-to-face, telephone and web conferencing interviews and focus groups, literature reviews, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, report-writing, evaluation design and working with evaluative tools such as logic models and theories of change.
Outside of Work
Outside of work, Gill takes care of her three daughters and works hard on keeping fit and healthy. She is currently studying part time towards a Masters in Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education at Buckinghamshire New University. She has become particularly interested in the subject of neurodivergence (having a daughter who is autistic) and reads extensively around the subject.
Interesting Fact
Gill once performed at the Albert Hall (playing the steel drums!)
Sabrina Ahmed
Research Consultant
Sabrina Ahmed
Career History
Sabrina joined Kada in May 2021 after completing an MA degree in Social Research at the University of Sheffield. Her dissertation looked at the relationship between social identity and educational attainment – using statistical computing software (R). With a background in Health and Social Care, Sabrina has also carried out research and impact analysis for a number of Health and Social Care organisations.
Key Strengths
Sabrina’s key strengths are in quantitative and qualitative research projects and report writing. During her studies, Sabrina undertook research around various key research topics including political science, social change, and journalism.
Outside of work
Outside of work, Sabrina enjoys playing badminton, and gardening. She also likes to visit art galleries – She took up sketching as a hobby during lockdown.
Interesting fact
One summer during her travels – which included a jeep tour to a high-altitude valley in Northern Pakistan – Sabrina hiked the foothills of the Himalayas. Luckily, the only animal she encountered was a wild boar and not a leopard!
Sophie Negus
Senior Research Consultant
Sophie Negus
BA (Sociology), MA (Methods of Social Research), PhD.
Career History
Sophie joined Kada in October 2021, she recently completed her PhD at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR). Her PhD investigated the impacts of Universal Credit on emotions, wellbeing, and the ‘self’ and adopted a qualitative longitudinal approach using interviews and participant-solicited diaries. Sophie has also worked as an associate researcher at CRESR assisting with the development of an employment and skills strategy and as an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.
Key Strengths
Sophie is an adept qualitative researcher with experience of interviews and focus-groups with service-users and stakeholders across a range of sectors. She is a strong communicator with experience of writing and presenting to a range of audiences such as Government departments and charities. Sophie also has extensive experience of reviewing literature and analysing qualitative data.
Outside of Work
Sophie enjoys spending time with family and friends. She likes to explore new places; her last trip was to Budapest. Sophie loves reading, cooking and making jams and chutneys.
Interesting Fact
Sophie likes to collect vintage homeware especially teapots.
Jack Orwin
Research Consultant
Jack Orwin
BSc Geography
Career History
Jack joined KADA research in September 2021 from AVIVA having worked for 2 years as a health insurance claims consultant. Jack graduated from Sheffield Hallam in November 2019 with a first-class honours having completed his final year dissertation on the link between deprivation and crime using Birmingham as a case study and implementing GIS software to map the relation.
Strengths and Experience
Jack’s key strengths are in quantitative and qualitative research and report writing, developed during his time at university and on previous work placements with an environmental consultancy firm.
Outside of Work
Outside of work, Jack is a big sports fan- primarily football of which he is a passionate and usually disappointed Newcastle United supporter. He also enjoys travelling and visited Iceland twice in the final two years of his degree both with and without the university.
Interesting Fact
Jack took part in a volunteering expedition in Mexico that involved scuba diving and monitoring turtle numbers and fortunately didn’t encounter any particularly unfriendly sea life- with the exception of some venomous lionfish.