Brett is a co-founder and director of Arad Research. During the past 14 years, he has led evaluations and research projects on behalf of government departments, public sector organisations and local authorities. He has managed large-scale programme evaluations and strategic reviews and has worked across a range of policy areas, including education and skills, the arts, the Welsh language, community regeneration and policy in the field of children and young people.

In 2018 he completed a formative evaluation of the Pioneer School Model on behalf of the Welsh Government’s Curriculum Division. This was a two-year programme of research that engaged with schools and stakeholders across Wales to examine the process of developing new curriculum arrangements.  He has recently completed an evaluation of Careers and Employability Leadership Programme on behalf of Teach First; and a baseline study of the current Additional Learning Needs system in Wales. He is currently leading an evaluation of the Siarter Iaith, a programme that supports the use of the Welsh language among children. He is also evaluating the All Wales Public Service Graduate Programme on behalf of Academi Wales, a programme that aims to develop future leaders in the Welsh public service. Prior to his time at Arad, he worked for research consultancy Newidiem and as a policy researcher at the National Assembly. Brett speaks Welsh and French and lives in Pontypridd.

Hefin is a Director and one of the founders of Arad Research. Over the last 15 years, Hefin has designed and managed research and evaluation for clients including government departments, local authorities private and third sector organisations. His main areas of expertise include education, skills and training, the Welsh language, labour market profiling and economic analysis.

He has recently managed a three-year qualitative research project for the Welsh Government examining parents’ views on early years services, as well as research on testing the literacy and numeracy skills of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) candidates and an assessment of the economic impact of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (a large National Voluntary Youth Organisation).

Hefin is a fluent Welsh speaker. He graduated from the London School of Economics in 2001 and began his career as a policy researcher in the National Assembly for Wales.

Martin is a founding director of Arad Research. He started his career working for DG Education and Culture of the European Commission and has since worked on education, skills, arts and R&D projects in Wales and across the EU. He has wide-ranging experience in the design of research and evaluation tools and working for clients such as Welsh Government, higher education institutions, sector skills councils and cultural organisations. Recent projects include research into the impact of Wales Arts International’s funding programmes, an evaluation of the Film Skills Strategy for ScreenSkills/BFI and an evaluation of the Early Years Leadership Development Programme for Teach First. He speaks French and Spanish and enjoys swimming and cycling.

Sioned is a Director and co-founder of Arad Research who has led a range of research and evaluation projects over the past fifteen years. She is an experienced project manager, skilled at leading research projects from inception through to dissemination for a range of clients including national and local government and third sector organisations. Research themes include childcare and early education, employment and skills and Welsh language policy.

Sioned currently leads on Arad projects relating to childcare and early education. She managed the evaluation of the Early Implementation of the Childcare Offer for Wales, a mixed-methods evaluation including surveys of parents and providers. She is also currently managing the evaluation of the ESF-funded ‘Progress for Success’ training for childcare workers. Recent employability and skills studies include the review of the Welsh Government’s Employability Skills Pilot Programme and an evaluation of Oxfam’s Building Livelihoods and Strengthening Communities in Wales project.

Previously, Sioned was a researcher at an independent consultancy and a researcher at the Welsh Government. A geography graduate, she also has a master’s degree in regional development with research methods.

Stuart is one of Arad’s founding directors. Stuart has research and consultancy experience that spans over two decades. He is an economics graduate and his main research interests lie in education, skills and workforce development. Stuart has a proven track record in leading research and evaluation studies for clients ranging from charity organisations to local and national governments across Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Stuart is an excellent communicator in both Welsh and English and an experienced facilitator of conferences, seminars and focus groups.

Recently, Stuart has been leading the evaluation of the Childcare Offer in Wales and has evaluated employability programmes such as the Employability Skills Programme and the Healthy Working Wales Out of Work Service for Welsh Government. He has managed research and evaluation in the education sector, such as an evaluation of STEM Cymru 2 for Engineering Education Scheme Wales.