By Jamie White – Head of Communications
Douglas Stafford Operations Director, Ben Sargeant, has been named as the new Managing Director of the mystery shopping and performance improvement company.
Ben has been working for Douglas Stafford for 10 years, after joining as a Graduate Trainee from the University of Portsmouth in 2004.
Ben’s first role was in the Quality Control Department, before being assigned to the Special Projects Department, playing an integral role of growing the Video Mystery Shopping side of the business.
Twelve months later, Ben joined the Field Scheduling Team where he allocated mystery shopping assignments to the company’s UK network of mystery shoppers and helped to train and develop them in their roles.
A year later, Ben joined the Project Management Team, before being made Field Development Manager, putting in place a structure for its regional controllers to enhance the training, recruitment and growth of the mystery shopper network.
In 2009, due to continued expansion, Douglas Stafford moved its Head Office to Lakeside North Harbour, Portsmouth and Ben became Operations Manager. He was put in charge of various departments in the company and was named as Operations Director in October 2010, overseeing the overall day-to-day running of the company and its departments.
Commenting on the appointment, Douglas Stafford CEO Nigel Cook, said: “Ben has progressed through the company, working both very hard and effectively to reach this position.
“Ben, in his role as Operations Director, has been instrumental in the continued success of the company over the past few years. By taking on this new role and challenge, he will be able to move the business onto the next level of development.”
Ben said: “Douglas Stafford is a great business to work for and the opportunity and progression that I have seen is testament to a business that wants to develop from within. The products and services that we offer and develop are so niche, that internal development is extremely important for our business.
“The business is in the strongest position it has ever been in, with continued growth in new business, along with our highest ever client retention level.
“We continue to invest heavily into all areas of the business, especially our IT infrastructure and Account Management Department to ensure we deliver the best level of service to our clients. Key to our success is not just delivering the product, but also ensuring that the whole team are excited about making a real difference to those businesses that we work with and building a great client relationship.
“The transformation of the business that I have seen over the last 10 years has been amazing and something that I feel truly honoured to be part of. It has only been possible due to having such a great team of individuals working with me, and a big thank you also needs to go out to all our Mystery Shoppers for the hard work they put in.”
Douglas Stafford – which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year – is the UK’s leading mystery shopping company, providing bespoke customer experience programmes to companies in a range of industries across the United Kingdom.
