Client Retention and Insights Analyst - Henley Business School

Please note this is only open to Masters students at Henley Business School.

The Marketing Centre is a UK-wide provider of fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to ambitious SMEs. We place experienced, board-level marketing leaders into growing businesses that require strategic marketing direction but do not need a full-time CMO. Our CMOs embed into leadership teams, typically one day per week, helping shape strategy, improve marketing performance and drive commercial growth. Clients gain access to senior marketing leadership in a flexible and commercially efficient model. As a relationship-led professional services business, long-term client partnerships are central to our success. We are investing in a deeper understanding of what drives client longevity and lifetime value within our model. This project sits at the heart of that work.

The Opportunity: We are seeking one or two exceptional Masters in Business Management students to undertake a six-week strategic project focused on client retention and lifetime value. This is not a theoretical exercise. It is a live commercial challenge sponsored by senior leadership. You will work directly with business data, identify patterns that matter, and develop recommendations that will inform real decisions about how we strengthen client relationships across the UK. The project combines data analysis, commercial thinking and structured problem solving. It requires intellectual rigour, sound judgement and the confidence to present clear conclusions to senior stakeholders.

Project Aim: To use data and targeted client insight to understand the drivers of client retention at The Marketing Centre and identify practical, high-impact opportunities to strengthen long-term client relationships.

Scope of Work: Over six weeks, you will:

• Define the Analytical Framework: Agree how retention will be defined and measured. Clarify the time period and scope of analysis. Identify key data sources and relevant variables.
• Prepare and Structure the Data: Clean and organise historical client data. Create a structured dataset suitable for analysis. Segment clients by relevant dimensions (e.g. tenure, region, sector).
• Analyse Retention Patterns: Review retention trends over time. Compare retention across segments. Identify differences and potential early indicators of disengagement.
• Identify and Assess Key Drivers: Explore which measurable factors are most closely associated with client longevity. Distinguish correlation from commercially meaningful drivers. Prioritise insights based on potential business impact.
• Conduct Targeted Client Conversations: Conduct a small number of structured client interviews to provide qualitative context to the data.
• Quantify Commercial Implications: Estimate the potential impact of improving retention. Translate analytical findings into clear commercial implications.
• Develop Prioritised Recommendations: Identify a focused set of practical, high-impact actions. Distinguish between immediate improvements and longer-term opportunities. Present findings in a concise, senior-ready format.

Your final presentation will be delivered to the leadership team.

What We Are Looking For: This opportunity is suited to high-performing students who are motivated by real business impact. The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Analytical Strength: Confidence working with structured datasets. Ability to clean, interpret and extract insight from data independently.
• Commercial Judgement: An understanding that insight must translate into action. Ability to focus on what materially affects business performance.
• Structured Thinking: Ability to define scope clearly and manage time effectively.
• Clear Communication: Ability to present insights concisely and confidently.
• Professional Confidence: Comfortable conducting structured client interviews.

What You Will Gain: Direct exposure to senior leadership within a national professional services firm. Experience working with live commercial data. The opportunity to influence strategic decision-making. A strong, credible project demonstrating analytical and commercial capability.

This project is particularly well suited to students interested in consulting, strategy, commercial leadership or data-driven roles.

Why This Matters: Client retention is one of the most powerful drivers of sustainable growth in professional services. Strengthening long-term relationships improves performance, stability and client outcomes. This project offers the opportunity to apply rigorous thinking to a meaningful commercial challenge and deliver work that will shape real business decisions. We are looking for students who are capable of delivering insight, not just analysis.