Amanda started out in her family business dealing part-worn tyres in Yorkshire. Discontented with her life in overalls, she packed away her tyre iron and ran off to London to pursue her dream of becoming a social psychologist. Since then she has enjoyed a colourful journey to becoming co-founder of Hope + Anchor. With over 15 years in qualitative research and strategy under her belt, her voyage has taken her via the London School of Economics, Head of Insight at NPD agency WOWCO, and Group Research Director at 2CV.

Amanda firmly believes that powerful insights are the key to thinking more creatively in business and making better business decisions. This view has informed her creative approach to finding insights. She has filmed people cleaning their neighbours' toilet in pursuit of the ultimate germ-busting cleaning tool; generated new editorial content by taking newspaper journalists and their readers on a camping weekend in Scarborough; found new behaviour change messages by drag racing with teenage drug takers and ex-addicts; and played dodge ball with families across Britain to devise a strategy to help change their attitudes to healthy eating. She even danced with Bruce Forsyth, all in the name of better insight.

But it is her ability to turn insight into clear business strategy that really defines her work. She has provided the strategic insight that has helped launch new brand and editorial direction for The BBC, The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun; new games for EA; new products for Britvic, United Biscuits and British Bakeries; and new social marketing campaign propositions for Department of Health's Change4Life and Know Your Limits campaign, and the Home Office's FRANK campaign.

She has work published by The Journal of Social Psychology, The Department of Health, The Youth Citizenship Commission, and the AQR. She also bakes a mean Yorkshire pudding.

Darren has one of those faces that make people want to tell him things. All manner of things. This, combined with an inherent nosiness and a fascination with the nitty-gritty of people's everyday lives, means he was always destined to become a researcher.

After stints at a few agencies, Darren joined 2CV in 2000 where, with a handful of others, he helped grow the agency into a global player, before co-founding Hope + Anchor in 2012.

Over the years his sense of adventure and passion for understanding people from all walks of life has led him into an array of encounters around the world: From watching breakfast TV with families in Streatham, to lunching with music moguls in the Hollywood hills, to spending the night on the road with burley truckers in rural Germany. He even once infiltrated a hen party in Beijing. Through these encounters and many, many others, he knows that with empathy, genuine interest, and the right questions, he can reveal rich and fascinating insights.

Darren's great skill is in turning these insights into strategic solutions for his clients' business problems. And his client list and client retention record is testament to his strategic abilities. Clients who Darren started working with 10 years ago are still working with him today, and he has built strong and long-standing relationships with some of the most exciting and innovative companies around including Bacardi Brown-Forman, eBay, ITV, and the Virgin Group.

Darren specialises in the fashion, media and entertainment space, working on brand futures, NPD, consumer segmentation, and cultural analysis. He has a knack for making people from all backgrounds feel comfortable, so as well as being expert in creating meaningful conversations with consumers, is equally versed in working directly with those at the helm of organisations. Darren is frequently asked to facilitate sessions with CEOs and other senior personnel, utilising creative approaches to help brand owners make better business decisions.