Research Staff and Associates

The Food & Drink Research Network provide expert UK food and drink industry data gathering, analysis and interpretation to a wide range of organisations, including government.

Please see our staff and associate's biographies below for more information.

Team Biographies

Sukky Jassi - Head of Research and Policy

Sukky is the Head of Research and Policy at Improve and also the Head of the Food & Drink Research Network. Sukky has designed and delivered a wide range of large-scale research projects for both private and public sector clients. She led the landmark United Kingdom Food Supply Chain research project and has authored a range of publications.

Alison Pearson - Research and Evaluation Manager

Alison is a Senior Research Executive at Improve and also a Senior Research Associate of the Food & Drink Research Network. She is co-author of the landmark United Kingdom Food Supply Chain research project and has managed and contributed to a range of key food and drink manufacturing publications.

Ian Brown - Food & Drink Research Network Senior Associate

Ian has considerable experience of designing, implementing and analysing qualitative and quantitative research projects. He has worked closely with Improve on several studies, including an assessment of the role of migrant workers in the industry and an analysis of the training, learning and development support needs of employers.

Jo Hutchinson - Food & Drink Research Network Senior Associate

Jo Hutchinson is an associate of Improve and principal research fellow at the International Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby. Jo has an extensive record of undertaking mixed-method research strategies for public sector clients including government departments, the UKCES, European partnerships and local organisations.

Marc Bayliss - Food & Drink Research Network Senior Associate

Marc is a highly accomplished economic researcher and strategist who has worked across both the public and private sectors. He is a labour market economist by profession, and has over fifteen years experience of education, training and skills policy and issues.

Ben Mitchell - Food & Drink Research Network Associate

Ben has been a research associate of Improve since 2010, providing information and a broad range of issues that are relevant to the food and drink manufacturing sector. His particular areas of expertise are in searching for and obtaining literature and other information and also writing literature reviews and policy briefings.

Louisa Ball - Food & Drink Research Network Associate

Louisa is a social scientist by training, and has gained recent research experience within an academic environment. She is trained in a range of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and has experience of using statistical analysis packages.