Meet the Team

Get to know the Tony Cowling Foundation

Article by Penny Briki published in Research Network Newsletter, August 2021

When everyone you speak to thinks it’s a great idea, you know it is the right thing to do; that is how the Tony Cowling Foundation saw the light of day. However, to capture his vision, to preserve his legacy and to perpetuate Tony’s values is no simple task.

Of course, setting up a foundation in honour of an individual is a practical challenge in itself, but perhaps less obviously, it requires moral responsibility. Within the TCF team we take this aspect to heart as we are acutely aware that the Foundation will represent people for whom Tony Cowling was a special influence.

Tony counted members of the Research Network amongst his friends, enjoying many social events with like-minded people from the industry he loved. Through the vehicle of the Foundation, we hope to build on this blend of professional and personal friendship and we warmly invite all members of the Research Network to register your interest in the Foundation via our website. This will enable us to keep you informed about our plans, the progress and initiatives of the Foundation and how we expect to evolve over the next few years.

From the outset, our objective was to pay tribute to the man who had a positive impact on the lives of many people. As everyone who knew him will no doubt agree, Tony's style was never that of a loud, rallying leader, imposing his opinions and directives on others.

Instead, Tony drew you in with his measured approach and clarity of thought. In his quest for true insights, he was an advocate of the highest standards in market research, upholding the most rigorous methodologies and ethical standards in the collection, interpretation and use of research data.

The TCF strives to maintain these guidelines and as a Community Interest Company (CIC), it ensures that the outcome of our efforts reinforce these principles, and benefit not only the market research community but the general public through sharing of research findings.

Tony’s personal values underpinned his remarkable achievements of building one of the largest research companies in the world, and it is these values and entrepreneurship that the TCF seeks to foster in future generations of researchers. Tony juxtaposed his consistent respect for evidence-based integrity with the intuition and competitiveness of a successful businessman. The TCF will endeavour to perpetuate this fusion in the projects we support and in future industry trailblazers.

Sounds good, but how will we achieve these goals?

The TCF has established a partnership with the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School, (CJBS) which is a prestigious institution, attracting multi-cultural, international academics and disruptive thinkers.

By aligning with appropriate PhD research projects, the TCF is delighted to be funding The Tony Cowling Research Fund and has allocated an initial fund of £30,000 for awards in the upcoming academic year. Founder members of the TCF and our advisory committee will work with the successful students to ensure the research supports Tony’s rigour and commitment to the future of the market research industry.

Throughout his tenure, Tony placed education high up among his priorities, ensuring that opportunities to develop skills and knowledge were made accessible to promising researchers. To support this, Tony established a company-wide, international training platform (TNS University/Tony Cowling Academy of Excellence) which ran for over 15 years, establishing a common standard in over 50 countries.

The TCF partnership with CJBS continues this theme and is one of the foundation’s commitments to supporting future torchbearers and pushing the boundaries within the industry.