So who are we?
Membership Engagement Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electoral Reform Services (ERS) - the world's leading independent supplier of ballot and election services. The company was set up in the summer of 2006 in response to the growing needs of ERS's clients. These needs were spreading beyond purely the electoral management with clients requiring more help in areas of communication, engagement and membership management in the face of falling turnout and general apathy.
We knew what was needed and how to deliver it, and Membership Engagement Services was born.
Your main contacts
Here are some details on our key members of staff. The Membership Engagement Services team has a breadth of experience across a whole range of elections, communications and strategies designed to help clients connect with their memberships, or potential memberships, more effectively. Combined with our affiliation with Electoral Reform Services, we are in a unique position to help you and provide a first class end-to-end service.
Hannah Staunton Jonathan Fisher (ERS)
Nick Goodman
Nick Goodman, our Managing Director, graduated in 1993 with a BA (Hons) in Government & Public Policy. He joined the ERS Group in 1994 and spent the decade immersed in the business of elections – their planning, impl ementation, outcomes and impact. He worked in a variety of sectors – Trade union, charity, corporate, Local and Central Government, Institute and Association – gaining a strong understanding of the issues and differences within each.
As the noughties began he focused on developing and introducing secure e-voting systems – now a common feature of many organisations’ democratic structure. While Manager of the Trade Union and Membership Organisation Sector in 2003, he advised and sat on the Department of Health’s Foundation Trust assessment & monitoring panel as it shadowed the legislation’s introduction regarding NHS Foundation Trusts. As Head of Operations in 2005 he became responsible for the day to day running of the company’s Client Advisory Department.
This extensive experience has brought him to his most recent role. Charged with setting the company up, as Managing Director of Membership Engagement Services his focus is about “helping organisations connect effectively and meaningfully with their memberships, tackling apathy and disinterest and deepening democracy in the process”.
In January 2010 Nick took up a seat on the ERS Board, responsible for Commercial & Client Development across the company. This new position, alongside his role here at MES, will ensure the ERS Group’s service range continues to develop coherently and in line with our clients needs.
Rhodri Mortimer
Rhodri joined Membership Engagement Services in 2007. As Manager of the Project Delivery Team at MES, he is responsible for ensuring our clients receive the best possible standard of service. Rhodri also oversees the development of our NHS Data Support Service.
He has a first class degree in History and Politics from the University of Leicester which initially took him into the financial services sector working in Melbourne, Australia, and for Lloyds TSB Asset Finance Division. He remained involved in the political world by offering research assistance to his local MP, providing briefings on key local issues, liaising with the press and working with community bodies to organise events and campaigns.
Proud of his Welsh heritage Rhodri was Vice President of the University of Leicester’s Welsh Society, and student representative for the History and Politics department. As a keen trumpeter Rhodri also became President of the University Big Band, and still enjoys picking up his trumpet when he has time!
Simon Geer
Simon Geer began his role as a Project Manager at Membership Engagement Services in February 2009. Simon started his career in the Civil Service, specialising in finance and procurement within the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform. A devoted interest in politics and current affairs led Simon to embark upon part-time study of a Politics degree at Birkbeck Colllege, University of London, while continuing to work full-time. Simon graduated with honours in 2006.
Simon spent all of 2006, travelling and working in Australia. This included a stint as a Customer Services Manager at Origin Energy; a gas, oil and electricity provider.
Simon returned to London in 2008 and joined rogenSi, a global business consultancy. Simon focused on co-ordinating training and coaching programmes, event management and marketing.
Paul Mitchell
Paul Mitchell joined MES in 2009 and is responsible for the company’s sales and marketing activities as Business Development Manager. He also works closely with the MD and the rest of the team in terms of the company’s on-going strategy.
Prior to this he spent 2 years as a Marketing and Account Manager for 3PTechnik, a sustainable drainage company. During this time he managed clients such as the Kingspan Group and the Kingfisher group. In addition Paul has worked in the field of renewable energy and for a creative agency, bringing experience of a variety of sectors and approaches.
Paul holds a degree in Politics and Philosophy, graduating in 2005. A keen musician he is also enthusiastic about sustainable development, having spent one year living and working on an organic farm in West Wales.
Elouise Smith
Elouise Smith joined Membership Engagement Services at the start of 2009. Her remit was clear – to improve our efficiency, strengthen our underlying structure and help us to develop and enhance our service. As such Elouise provides essential support and coordination in the office as we continue to grow.
As Office Manager her responsibilities include all aspects of MES business operations; from supporting the MD, managing the internal day-to-day workings of the office, internal financial control and external invoicing, all aspects of recruitment, managing temporary staff for specific short-term projects such as membership recruitment programmes, co-ordinating the helpdesk and supporting the project managers in the delivery of our client’s projects.
With a number of our new systems and procedures now in place and operated by our excellent team of support staff, in January 2010 Elouise will become MES's Membership Services Manager – focusing on and managing the delivery of all of our associated membership services.
Elouise brings over five years of financial sector experience to MES, having worked previously for Lloyds TSB within their retail banking sector and Natwest Business Banking. She took a break from the financial sector and spent 18 months working for Knauf, one of Europe's leading building materials manufacturers based in Kent. Most recently she had worked for a niche, city based service delivery consulting firm, working on various campaigns for Investment Banking and Hedge Fund clients such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Merrill Lynch and Man Investments.
Hannah Staunton
Hannah began designing databases in her teens. From there, through a whirlwind series of industries, as a certified Microsoft Office User Specialist, she offered high-end support and training as well as VBA and database development to a range of clients until gaining her first development position before University. Having gained a BA Hons in Philosophy from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Object Oriented Software Systems from City University, she then changed direction, moving to Bucharest to write novels.
She joined Electoral Reform Services’s Development team in 2006 and in 2008 jumped at the chance to work with MES. Hannah now leads on MES’s Data Support Service’s software development and provide operational support for all our online systems.
Vipul Buddhdev
Vipul Buddhdev joined MES in June 2009 and works with Hannah Staunton to provide operational support for our systems. He holds a degree in Computer Science as well as numerous professional qualifications. Vipul is a certified Prince2 practitioner and a certified trainer (CTP).
Prior to joining MES Vipul worked at T-Mobile providing first and second line support for CRM systems. He has provided first, second and third line support as well as been involved in development for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), BT, 3Com and other organisations.
Earlier this year Vipul spent a few months in India to gain further professional qualifications in Microsoft products to help further his career opportunities.
Ben Weller
Ben Weller joined the team as a Project Co-ordinator in October 2009. He came to MES after a stint with DeHavilland, a provider of UK and EU political intelligence. He specialised in the energy sector and gained exposure to clients like BP, Shell and EDF.
Ben holds a degree in Politics from the University of Nottingham and speaks Mandarin Chinese. He first fell in love with Chinese food and culture before university, when he spent a year travelling around the countries’ Western borders, including Tibet and the north-west frontier.
He returned to China after university to improve his Mandarin and teach English before heading back to London to work for SThree, a global recruitment firm, where he set up a new market segment for the company, winning and working with clients such as Lloyds TSB, Zurich Financial Services and ICAP.
In his spare time he heads for the ocean to race yachts and scuba dive. Occasionally he enjoys running triathlons.
Joanna Hawkins
Joanna Hawkins joined Membership Engagement Services as Office Support in December 2009 where she assists the Membership Team and Project Managers in an increasingly busy office.
Joanna graduated from the University of Reading in 2008 with a degree in English Literature and History of Art after which she worked for a housing management organisation in North London. She has most recently moved from a company that runs two international summer schools and enjoys the fast-paced environment of the MES office.
Rebecca Smith
Rebecca joined MES at the beginning of 2010 after a year travelling, fishing and working in the United States.
Graduating from the University of Manchester in 2006 with a joint honours degree in Film and Literature Rebecca embarked on a Masters degree in Library and Information Management. This combination first led her to work for two regional film archives, first in the North West and then in East Anglia. Working with MES has allowed her to continue working with a dynamic evolving database system plus a lot more human interaction.
Jonathan Fisher
A career in academia would have seemed a natural choice for Jonathan, our former Project Manager, given his many achievements in this field. While completing his degree in Political Science at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (for which he took a First and received the Merit Certificate for outstanding achievement in research) as well as the Joe Ebrahim prize for the best politics student at Honours level, he also managed to squeeze in further study at both Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and Bard College, New York, as a result of winning an international merit scholarship. The requirements of the courses undertaken, focusing on human rights, politics and government and humanitarian affairs were all achieved with distinction.
His efforts were not confined to the academic however. While in Washington, Jonathan interned and volunteered at First Helping, a homeless outreach program. On return to South Africa he participated in a scheme tutoring disadvantaged children in English and Maths.
A move to London heralded a period of work in the charity sector. Jonathan worked at both Breakthrough Breast Cancer and latterly Christian Aid before joining MES in July 2007. In January 2010 Jonathan moved across to Electoral Reform Services' Commercial Development Department. As Senior Client Executive he is helping to integrate all parts of the business.
MES Support Staff and Associates
Jane Trafford – ERS HR Manager
Ro Gordon – Training Associate (www.rogordon.co.uk)
Andreas Varnavides - Design & Artwork Associate (www.differentprints.com)
Harry Barlow - Advertising, Design & Events Associate (www.harrybarlow.com)
MES Board of Directors
Nick Goodman – Managing Director
Sian Roberts – ERS CEO
Mike Burdett – ERS Chairman
Jenny Bradley – Board Secretary
Together with our back-room staff we will guide and support you through your project and beyond.
