CIE Group incorporates CIE, Facts International, Opinion Leader and Watermelon. Emily Kettle, managing director of Facts International, is also stepping down.

CIE is being brought into the VCCP Partnership – which Chime acquired in 2005 – to align its work with VCCP’s customer experience expertise and to help with global expansion.

Mark Squires, founder and managing director of Watermelon, will become CEO and Nick Lamb will remain as chairman.

Commenting on the changes, Beale said: “I’ve had a fantastic time working with the team at Chime Insight & Engagement Group and am extremely proud of our achievements. The business has transformed to be far stronger, more diversified and significantly more profitable than when I started, and I am hugely appreciative of the opportunity to work with some of the world’s leading brands and drive the evolution of the company.”

Adrian Coleman, group CEO of the VCCP Partnership, added: “We are excited to be bringing CIE Group into the VCCP Partnership fold, in a move allowing us to provide our clients with an even more complete and adaptable service.

“The group has been hugely successful over recent years and this integration comes at an ideal time in its evolution. We are thankful to both Crispin Beale and Emily Kettle for the huge effort they have put into bringing success to the business.”

Beale has been at CIE for almost 10 years and has extensive client-side experience at Royal Mail, the Post Office and BT among others. He is an immediate past-chair of the Market Research Society and current board director.