ABOUT US

- BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Václav Šojdel

Václav Šojdel

President 2023/2025
Market Vision - Czech Republic

Václav works as Country Manager at Market Vision Czech Republic... Read more

Andy Firth

Andy Firth

Vice President 2023/2025
Ipsos Channel Performance UK - United Kingdom

Andy started working in the research and mystery shopping industry in 1998 following graduation from the University of Sheffield. Read more

Luis Duarte

Luis Duarte

Past President 2021/2023
More Results - Portugal

More Results is a Full Services Agency in Market Research with a relevant focus on Mystery Shopping.... Read more

Jill Spencer

Jill Spencer

Director / Treasurer
ReactCX - United Kingdom

Jill is Director of Business Intelligence, at Proinsight.  She has worked as a mystery shopping service provider at senior level since 2000... Read more

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck

Director
TopLevel Services / Multi-Value

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck is an expert in the field of Mystery Shopping and Customer Service Relations... Read more

Istvan Mozes

Istvan Mozes

Director
ClientFirst - Hungary

CV will be included shortly... Read more

Abdel Wahab Chaoui

Abdel Wahab Chaoui

Director
C&O Marketing - Morocco

Abdel Wahab is currently founder and associate director of C&O Marketing... Read more

Rena Shaw

Rena Shaw

Director
Storecheckers - United Kingdom

After completing her degree in Social Anthropology, Rena joined Rumbelows... Read more

Bernarda Blažek

Bernarda Blažek

CEO
Newton Research Europe - Croatia

Bernarda currently works as CEO at Newton Research Europe in Croatia. Newton Research Europe is part of Newton Media Group and directly covering 9 European markets in various types of research.... Read more

Monica Luciani

Monica Luciani

Director
Mebius / Mysteryclient.it - Italy

Monica is a mystery shopping expert and the founder of Mysteryclient.it. Since 2001... Read more

Thanasis Papapostolou

Thanasis Papapostolou

Director
AIP Consulting - Greece

Thanasis is the founder of AIP Consulting, an international Market Research company with a focus on... Read more

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg

Director
Helion Research Africa - Zuid-Afrika

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg is joint Managing Director of Helion Research Africa. Ronelle is a qualified NLP coach... Read more

Veronica Boxberg Karlsson

Veronica Boxberg Karlsson

Founder MSPA Europe, Past President, Past Chair MSPA Global Board
Better Business World Wide - Sweden

Founder of MSPA Europe (2001) and Better Business World Wide (1995). Read more

Nikky Alkemade

Nikky Alkemade

Executive Director
MSPA Europe/Africa - The Netherlands

Nikky joined MSPA in 2004, in the role of Executive Director of MSPA Europe/Africa.  Read more

Nigel Cover

Nigel Cover

Governor MSPA EA
MSPA Europe/Africa - United Kingdom

Nigel is the Governor of MSPA EA and a Senior Executive with a wealth of experience with leading Mystery Shop... Read more

Cristiani Oliveira

Cristiani Oliveira

Supporter of the board
Portugal

Cristiani is a suporting volunteer of the MSPA EA Board. Read more

Václav Šojdel

Václav Šojdel

President 2023/2025
Market Vision - Czech Republic

Václav is a dedicated professional with a strong background in the field of Mystery Shopping and Customer Experience. Originally from the Czech Republic, he graduated from the University of Economics in Prague with a specialisation in international trade and financial accounting.  

His passion for research and analysis began during his university studies, where he worked on large-scale domestic and international projects in telecommunication competitive intelligence for T-Mobile Czech Republic. Václav's expertise in the Mystery Shopping industry started in 2007, and he has since gained extensive knowledge in a wide range of sectors.  

As the Country Manager at Market Vision Czech Republic, a research agency focused on Mystery Shopping, Customer Experience and Competitive Intelligence, Václav plays a crucial role in transforming information into actionable insights for their clients.  

He strongly believes in utilising tools such as audio and video recordings to maximise client satisfaction and enhance employee training and coaching. Václav is constantly exploring new ways to leverage Mystery Shopping for price analysis, competitive intelligence, and benchmarking.  

He frequently publishes articles on customer feedback collection and competition monitoring in specialised periodicals.  

Outside of his professional endeavours, Václav remains active in academia by regularly lecturing in marketing research at the University of Economics in Prague.  

His personal interest lies in exploring the relationship between the economic cycle and the utilisation of customer experience tools. With his wealth of knowledge and expertise, Václav is committed to helping businesses better understand their market, improve customer relationships, and increase sales figures through data-driven insights. 

Václav has been working as part of the MSPA board since 2017. He has always devoted himself mainly to the marketing activities of our association with a focus on social networks. He was elected Vice President in 2021 and our President in 2023. 

Andy Firth

Andy Firth

Vice President 2023/2025
Ipsos Channel Performance UK - United Kingdom

Andy Firth, Head of Insights and Analytics, Ipsos Channel Performance UK. Andy started working in the research and mystery shopping industry in 1998 following graduation from the University of Sheffield. Andy spent the first 9 years of his career in the ‘research’ side of the business focussing on a range of methodologies including customer satisfaction, market measurement, U&A and qualitative research, before moving to the mystery shopping division in 2007.  As Head of Insights in Ipsos’s UK Channel Performance Service Line, Andy oversees the Analytics team aimed at ensuring that account facing colleagues deliver true impact to their clients through actionable insights and high-end analytics.

Luis Duarte

Luis Duarte

Past President 2021/2023
More Results - Portugal

Luis is a graduate in Hotel Management and founded More Results in 1998, having previously worked in Management positions in Hotels & Tourism and in Retail, in Portugal, Germany and England.

His work experience was gained working for Accor, Sheraton and Lidl. Currently Luis heads a team of 25 dedicated professionals that are focused on helping their clients improving their customer experiences.

More Results is a Full Services Agency in Market Research with a relevant focus on Mystery Shopping – and offers various management tools, that are used in line with the client’s specific goals. In the most recent client satisfaction survey More Results achieved a satisfaction rate of 92% and a recommendation rate of 100%.

Luis is very involved with the internal and external clients and one of the areas he is responsible for delivering results is Innovation. In his free time Luis likes to spend time with family & friends and to practice sports, specially Bootcamp, and reading, reading, reading!

Jill Spencer

Jill Spencer

Director / Treasurer
ReactCX - United Kingdom

Jill is Director of Business Intelligence, at Proinsight in the United Kingdom. Before she was Associate Director, at ReactCX.  She has worked as a mystery shopping service provider at senior level since 2000, having previously earned a strong reputation for expertise in the Customer Experience arena whilst working in varied and challenging roles for blue chip retailers. 

Over the past 25 years, Jill’s core objective has been to raise the profile of customer service in business. It is a testament to her passion and commitment for the subject that the companies Jill has worked for, and in partnership with, now place customer service at the very top of their boardroom agenda.

Her more recent work focused largely on the engagement and education of frontline workers.  By raising the level of understanding that the frontline has – and providing clear leadership and direction relating to individual and team goals – a more engaged work force has evolved, as well as a clear movement from a ‘task focused’ to ‘customer centric’ work ethic. Of specific interest at board level, the work also identified clear correlations between higher engagement levels and stronger sales performance across the client organisations that Jill worked with during this study.

Jill has written a series of case studies on the value of mystery shopping, including some high profile return on investment work, and has had several articles published on this subject.  She has also spoken at conferences throughout the world on the topic of Customer Experience.  Jill has worked as a board member of MSPA Europe since 2012, and was appointed President in 2017.

Away from work, Jill has a passion for sports and travel, and her Fantasy Football prowess is legendary!

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck

Director
TopLevel Services / Multi-Value

Stefaan Vandroogenbroeck is an expert in the field of Mystery Shopping and Customer Service Relations.

During his early career, he successfully created and managed three different contact centers in Belgium and the Netherlands. During the last 8 years he has established himself as an expert in the creation and ongoing management of Mystery Shopping and Market Research projects.  He has also qualified as a trainer/coach during this time.

It was whilst working as a Contact Center Manager that Stefaan discovered the value of using Mystery Shopping techniques. He was so motivated by this experience that he moved across to work for a Belgian Mystery Shopping company.

After three successful years as part of the Mystery Shopping world Stefaan was promoted to the role of Associate Director, and such was his passion for his work that he decided to set up his own company in Lille in early 2010. 

Stefaan's strong background and extensive experience in his field of operation, together with a continuous and infectious enthusiasm, has helped ensure that together with his skillful team, he will continue to drive local and European Mystery Shopping projects to a successful conclusion for his clients.

As a member of the MSPA European Board, Stefaan continues to work with expertise and passion as European Director for Education & Accreditation.

Istvan Mozes

Istvan Mozes

Director
ClientFirst - Hungary

CV will be included shortly

Abdel Wahab Chaoui

Abdel Wahab Chaoui

Director
C&O Marketing - Morocco

Abdel Wahab is currently founder and associate director of C&O Marketing. He has 20 years of experience in market research and mystery shopping. After completing a Masters in Marketing of Retail at Business School, he worked as a Marketing Senior Consultant with the USAID.

Since 1994, he has worked as associate director of C&O Marketing. Within C&O Marketing, he is in charge of marketing surveys, elaboration of marketing strategy especially in retail and franchises and in mystery shopping activities. He is also responsible for international studies and research throughout Europe, Africa and Middle East.

Abdel used to collaborate with a newspaper as a columnist for 5 years. Regarding, the associative life, Mr.Chaoui has been a representative of ESOMAR in Maghreb for 6 years.

Rena Shaw

Rena Shaw

Director
Storecheckers - United Kingdom

After completing her degree in Social Anthropology, Rena joined Rumbelows Thorn Head Office as a Graduate Trainee, completing a Masters Degree in Politics and Government in the evenings.

Rena moved to Dixons Retail as a Trainee Buyer, just at the commencement of their period of exponential growth. Dixons provided a fascinating insight into an enormously successful retail organisation. It was a thrilling environment to work in, and much was learnt about teambuilding from their successful approach of the buying and marketing teams working in unison.

Rena left Dixons as a Buyer once she had children, and decided to train as a TOEFL teacher. She focussed on the business and commercial English skills, and met many European and  Japanese businesspeople who were keen to learn English, and discuss their comparisons of business experiences in the UK and overseas.

Rena’s working experiences and the belief that Customer Service was an often forgotten vital ingredient in business, led to the establishment of Storecheckers Mystery Shopping, set up with Jeff Caplan in 1989. Since its formation Storecheckers has become a respected player in the field of Mystery Shopping, Market Research & Training, improving customer satisfaction and client success rates.

Rena’s moto is that life is to be loved and laughter is the best medicine. She loves spending time with family and friends, travelling anywhere but especially on long train journeys and exciting destinations such as Siberia, Mongolia and Albania,  and also ogling at Bruce Springsteen’s gyrations.

Bernarda Blažek

Bernarda Blažek

CEO
Newton Research Europe - Croatia

Bernarda currently works as CEO at Newton Research Europe in Croatia. Newton Research Europe is part of Newton Media Group and directly covering 9 European markets in various types of research.

She is graduated economist from the University of Business and Management. In 9 years of experience in the area of market research, she worked on all company functions and gained access to the company's management function from a broad perspective of all operational processes. 

Over the past few years, she has designed and organized hundreds of challenging projects in the field of market research in pharmaceutical, automotive, fashion, retail, hospitality and finance industry.
She is also the author of a series of publications focusing on the topic of market research, new business trends and increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. She also contributed to a number of other publicly published articles and blogs

Monica Luciani

Monica Luciani

Director
Mebius / Mysteryclient.it - Italy

Monica is a mystery shopping expert and the founder of Mysteryclient.it. Since 2001, after graduation at Siena University, worked as Quality Auditor for Tuv and discovered the importance of quality audit in retail business so in 2005 decided to start a new venture in Market Research to merge the audit knowledge with the customer experience.

As a Vice President of MysteryClient.it built a new way of understanding and explaining the way to boost the sales. Her main focus is Automotive industry where she helps the Italian branches of the most important automotive brands to understand the insight of their dealers.

Thanasis Papapostolou

Thanasis Papapostolou

Director
AIP Consulting - Greece

Thanasis is the founder of AIP Consulting, an international Market Research company with a focus on Customer Experience Management services and technologies. Furthermore, he delivers training to middle and upper management executives in the fields of Leadership, Negotiations and Sales. Additionally, he offers Coaching and Mentoring services & tools to Startups and Executives. Prior to that, he has served in Sales Management positions for various global FMCG & Retail companies for 15+ years.

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg

Director
Helion Research Africa - Zuid-Afrika

Ronelle Janse van Rensburg is joint Managing Director of Helion Research Africa. Ronelle is a qualified NLP coach with over twenty years’ experience in mystery shopping, customer experience research, CRM and improvement.

Ronelle is passionate about customer experience and continuous improvement. With a wealth of practical experience and a coaching approach, Ronelle and her team have been successfully partnering with many global brands, all leaders in their field to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Ronelle is married with 2 children, she enjoys travelling, property design, decor and architecture.

Veronica Boxberg Karlsson

Veronica Boxberg Karlsson

Founder MSPA Europe, Past President, Past Chair MSPA Global Board
Better Business World Wide - Sweden

Founder of MSPA Europe (2001) and Better Business World Wide (1995). Veronica has been the President for MSPA Europe and MSPA Global Board, and is now a member or MSPA Global Advisory Committee.

Better Business World Wide is a specialist in developing and coordinating global mystery shopping projects. Better Business can report from the moment of truth in real time, in local language, worldwide. Better Business unique reports are efficient and concise enabling employees and managers at all levels within the organization to understand them.  

Veronica has written several books about mystery shopping, service and leadership for the industry, for managers, and for the employees that will be evaluated by mystery shoppers. The books are currently available in 20 languages.

Veronica is the founder of SSQ Award, the Scandinavian Service & Quality Award which is a quality program for Hotels and Conference Venues, accredited under the European Hospitality Quality scheme by HOTREC.

Veronica is also the founder of The Smiling Report which annually since 2004 has aggregated mystery shopping data about Smiling, Greeting, and Add-on Sales per country and industry. So far, 69 mystery shopping companies have joined the report.  

Nikky Alkemade

Nikky Alkemade

Executive Director
MSPA Europe/Africa - The Netherlands

Nikky joined MSPA in 2004, in the role of Executive Director of MSPA Europe/Africa.  Her role and remit has increased significantly over the past 17 years, and her knowledge and influence have been key to the progress made by the Association during this period of time. 

The level of support and expertise that Nikky is able to provide will be invaluable if the growing ambitions and objectives of MSPA Europe/Africa are to be realised.

Nigel Cover

Nigel Cover

Governor MSPA EA
MSPA Europe/Africa - United Kingdom

Nigel is the Governor of MSPA EA and a Senior Executive with a wealth of experience with leading Mystery Shop and Customer Experience organisations on a global stage. Past President of MSPA Europe 2011/2013 and Chair of the Global Advisory Committee in 2015.

In 2017 appointed by the MSPA Europe board as external Strategy Consultant.

His passion is simple, people make the difference in business - their engagement as an employee and experience as a consumer are what makes a brand powerful and successful. With extensive knowledge in the fields of Customer Experience, Customer Insight, Customer Loyalty and Employee Engagement he has a broad and unique 

Having been involved in market research and the mystery shopping industry almost all his working life, he has extensive experience of advising clients how Insight and measurement tools can work together to maximise their ROI. 

His particularly formative experiences included setting up and managing the expansion of operations in UK, Germany, France, Spain, USA and APAC.

Nigel has focused his expertise on the areas of balanced scorecard implementation, standards measurement, training, incentive and reward tools.

Regardless of the nature of project work being undertaken, Nigel will always focus on delivering best value to his clients, by ensuring that there is a continuous emphasis on speed, accuracy and technology to make information more accessible, actionable and reliable.

Cristiani Oliveira

Cristiani Oliveira

Supporter of the board
Portugal

With over 30 years of professional experience, Cristiani has worked in diverse areas, such as logistics, insurance, banking and metallurgical industry. In the last 20 years Cristiani has been working with customer research, mystery shopping, customer experience management and digital transformation.

Cristiani joined MSPA Europe/Africa (Mystery Shopping Professionals Association) as a Director in 2007, became Vice President in 2009, President in 2010/2011, Director in 2011 to 2020 and is currently a suporting advisor for the Association. Between 2018/2020 Cristiani was Vice President of APODEMO (Portuguese Association for Market and Opinion Research Companies) and she is also a member of ESOMAR, DSPA (Data Science Portuguese Association), Woman in Tech Community by WebSummit and Toastmasters International.

Since 2023, she joined Research Metrics and CX Strategy Ambassador and is also Business Development Director for Europe of the International Customer Experience Institute.

Cristiani contributes frequently to various publications and is a frequent speaker in national and international conferences, lecturing on topics such as Mystery Shopping, Marketing Research, Customer Experience Management, Human Resources and Corporate Communication. In her free time, Cristiani loves traveling with her 3 small daughters, cooking and volunteering for many different causes related to education, migration and inclusion.

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