Matthew Bayfield: Tree

Matthew Bayfield
Age: 30
Company: Tree

Tree, started in 2001 by Bayfield and Steve Mattey and now employing 11 people, combines market research with data analysis and has already worked with the likes of Skoda, BMW, Canon, Austin Reed and O2. Its £1.4m turnover for 2004 will be virtually double last year’s total, and it projects a further 50% growth next year, with the business quickly carving a niche as a market research house that shuns the traditional ABC1 demographic models.

2017 update:

Tree grew to over 80 people across London, Singapore and Kolkata before being acquired by Chime PLC in 2010. In 2008, Bayfield founded Earwig world wide – a social media monitoring platform that provided information for the likes of Rolls Royce, O2 and Orlando tourism. In 2014, Bayfield founded TURN2, which helps businesses grow by optimizing front office sales, marketing and service. Since 2016, he has been founder and CEO of Field – a data and research company that helps clients understand customer behaviour through psychographic profiling.