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Preeti Reddy to succeed Thomas Puliyel as president at IMRB International

Company Brief

London, January 14, 2015

Kantar today announces a forthcoming change of leadership at IMRB International, which will see Preeti Reddy take over from long-serving president Thomas Puliyel when he retires in August this year.

Reddy, currently senior vice-president, will work alongside Puliyel during the next few months as the transition takes effect. Once president, she will report to Kantar president Wayne Levings.

Reddy has close to three decades of experience in research and consulting, working with leading Indian and multinational companies. She joined the IMRB group in 2009 when she was appointed CEO of LMRB in Sri Lanka. She has previously worked in consumer consulting at Technopak, was senior vice-president at TNS India and has worked with the BAT group in India.

In other management changes, effective 1 February, Jasojit Mookerjea, currently senior vice-president responsible for the International Business Unit and joint head of IMRB One will take on full responsibility for IMRB One as well as heading change management and managing the key account directors within the company.

Sreeram Sreenivasan, currently BAT global account director and vice-president, IBU, will take overall charge as senior vice-president, IBU, based in London. Diptya Mukherjee will continue in his role as vice-president, IBU, based in Calcutta. The management team at IBU is being further strengthened under the leadership of Sreenivasan and Mukherjee and the proposed changes will be communicated in due course.

Vivek Gupta, senior vice-president, will head the Auto, BFSI and Telecom sectors, while the Brand Science business will be merged into IMRB One.

Puliyel joined IMRB in 1981 as manager, overseas projects and remained with the company until 1992 before moving to set up Research International India as country manager. He returned to IMRB as president in 2000. The company has been named research agency of the year eight times since 2005 and Puliyel has twice served as president of the Market Research Society of India.

Levings commented: “Thomas has made an outstanding contribution to IMRB and the broader Indian research market throughout his long and distinguished career. Under his leadership, IMRB has continued to improve and innovate around its offering, expanded into new markets and sectors and has been consistently recognised as the leading research agency in India. He leaves with our thanks and best wishes for his retirement.

“In Preeti, we have an excellent new leader of IMRB. She brings a combination of strong client leadership, general management and consulting capabilities. With the very strong leadership team she has around her, IMRB will continue to build on its world-class foundations.”

Reddy said: “I’m delighted to be leading such a diversified and vibrant business which continues to define research in the region. We have a great team of experienced and highly competent managers to head our different businesses and I look forward to working with them to build IMRB into an even bigger and better business.”

Puliyel added: “IMRB is a wonderful place to work in. The open, empowered work environment is a great magnet for the best research talent. The freedom that the company provides makes it a great place to learn and realize one’s potential.”

For further information, please contact:

Lindsay McMurdo

Email: lindsay.mcmurdo@kantar.com

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