Executive Staff

Philip Mitchell-Taverner

Philip Mitchell-Taverner
Managing Director
B. Comm.

Born in England, Philip Mitchell-Taverner came to Australia as a young boy. He was educated in Melbourne and has a Bachelor of .Commerce from Melbourne University.

Philip has over 40 years of business experience in management and research consulting. Philip has consulted with business and government at all levels. He has designed and managed large and small scale projects for such organisations as Sydney Water, RTA, EPA, Dept of Transport, ING and Fairfax publications.

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Connie Jansen

Connie Jansen
Senior Research Director
B. Sci. - Education

After gaining her degree in education at Iowa State University, Connie began her professional career as a teacher in the USA. Her career changed with a move to corporate training followed by research market analysis. Following further studies into statistics she moved into a research role in Australia with Taverner.

Connie has a well earned reputation for managing and reporting major research assignments for government organisations. She is closely involved with the EPA and in 2003 completed her third study for the organisation and their Who Cares About the Environment report.

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Patrick Meza

Patrick Meza
National Operations Manager
BA. - Political Science (Hons) & Economics, Master of Commerce - Organisation & Management Studies.

Patrick Meza arrived from Chile in 1988. His determination to succeed has seen him complete two degrees; Bachelor of Arts (Political Science (Hons) & Economics) and Master of Commerce (Organisation & Management Studies). He has been an integral part of our fieldwork and data production and quality assurance team for the past 14 years.

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Sophie has been actively involved in both qualitative and quantitative research for over 20 years.  She began her research career at Reark Research in 1989 as a fieldwork supervisor and then Ramis Corporation as Telephone Services Manager. In 1995 Sophie assumed a simliar role at Taverner whilst also liaising directly with clients and preparing reports on research findings. 

Sophie was promoted in 1999 to the position of Project Director so that she could build her career in research management and client service.  In so doing, Sophie applies her grass roots training in fieldwork.  Her work now involves her in conducting depth interviews, supporting focus group facilitation, designing and analysing qualitative and quantitative studies and delivering presentations and reports to client management.  Examples of clients with whom Sophie has direct consulting relationships are Sydney Water and Westfield.
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Michael Trigwell
National Research Director

Michael joined Taverner Research in 2005 from the client side after holding marketing management positions at companies as diverse as start-up technology, global manufacturing, and marketers of heavy industrial equipment.

His background in strategic marketing and product management brings valuable input to Taverner and our clients. He has vast experience in business-to-business markets and international business, and has been responsible for projects identifying new markets and business opportunities in a number of industries.

Since joining Taverner, Michael has been involved in numerous research studies and has built up a loyal client portfolio by providing his clients with a hands-on and collaborative project management approach. His focus is always on providing knowledge and insights to add both strategic and real-time value to his clients’ businesses. The expertise that Michael brings to Taverner complements the skills of our other researchers and provides alternative levels of insight into the strategic decision making process of our clients.

In his spare time Michael can normally be found indulging in his two passions outside of research - golf and soccer, both as a keen participant and an avid supporter.

Debbie Owolabi
Healthcare Specialist
BSc (Hons) Physiology/Pharmacology

Debbie is passionate about healthcare market research, her experience spans both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.  Her focus has always been on delivering customised solutions to clients, which typically requires a mixture of both disciplines.

With a strong interest in drivers and motivations that underlie human behaviour, Debbie has conducted extensive research studies with GPs, specialists, patients and consumers alike.

Debbie has 10 years experience in market research, the last 7 years has been focused exclusively on healthcare. Her experience covers a wide range of therapeutic areas, including Asthma, Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Erectile Dysfunction and Osteoporosis. Her particular areas of expertise include market understanding, brand equity research, customer segmentation and creative development research.

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Jenny Burke
Research Consultant
B Comm (Marketing and Organisational Behaviour)

Jenny brings with her more than seven years of research experience from areas including B2B, FMCG and the healthcare sector.

Whilst Jenny has had extensive quantitative experience, her key strengths lie in qualitative research, particularly in consumer behaviour, packaging research, semiotics, research with children and understanding of the decision making processes that exist in consumer and business-to-business markets.

Jenny joined the Taverner Team after working at The Leading Edge and it was there that Jenny truly discovered that the ‘touchy feely’ side of research was for her! Jenny is a highly skilled qualitative moderator, with a natural ability to engage and draw insight from a wide range of audiences. Jenny loves to have a good chat while immersing herself in new environments at the same time.

Jenny is passionate about research and her clients value her enthusiastic, personable and creative approach to her projects. She has also managed large-scale projects at both a domestic and international level, demonstrating superior organisational skills in the process.

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