Elaine Francis

Founder and Director

Company Founder Elaine has been a driving force for Criteria and across the wider industry.

Elaine started out as a recruiter in Manchester in the 1980's after she left school, setting up Criteria in 1996.

Elaine is a Fellow of the Market Research Society (FMRS), a mentor for the MRS and WIRe (Women in Research) and a trustee and board member of the MRBA. She has served on the AQR committee organising Field events and has worked on joint QRCA/AQR conference collaboration in Dublin, Barcelona, and Prague. Currently Elaine is a judge for the AQR Parker Prize for Emerging Talent and also a judge for the Operations Awards, or 'The Oppies' as they are affectionately known! Elaine sits as a Fellow on the MRS Disciplinary Authority.

Elaine has been advocating for higher standards in recruitment for many years, including being part of the original Recruiter Accreditation Scheme working party, presenting at AURA about the need for Qualitative standards in recruitment (before the days of the Recruiter Accreditation Scheme), and delivering a paper at the MRS Conference on fraudulent recruitment and fraudulent participation, called, "Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be…".

Elaine continues striving for quality by delivering training sessions for freelance recruiters, promoting positive participant experience and constantly being on the lookout for fraud.

Elaine is passionate about tackling ageism within the sector and has co-founded the Silver Insights Generation (SIGn) taskforce, hoping to make the market research industry inclusive for everyone. In Prague she presented with Silver Insights Generation and Ipsos at Esomar Congress 2025, the session was called "Insight Terrorism, how age bias assassinates truth".

Elaine is a qualified psychotherapist (PROF. DIP PSY C) and volunteers for a community mental healthcare charity. She's also a committed vegan and passionate about the environment and animal welfare. She is always on an animal related rescue mission and is a volunteer for an animal charity here and in the Middle East.