We help financial and regulated-market leaders make confident decisions by giving them fast access to the right stakeholders.
Insight, research, and stakeholder engagement that turns assumptions into clear, defensible decisions. Polar Insight is for leaders who need:
• Direct access to people who influence commercial or regulatory outcomes
• Evidence their board and senior stakeholders trust
• Insight that aligns teams and accelerates progress
What we do
Recruit hard to reach B2B stakeholders
Run insight sprints to validate strategy, messaging, policies, or propositions
Support regulatory and market adaptation projects
Produce evidence that boards and regulators trust
Who we work with
Purpose led organisations within financial services, energy, environment, consulting, and other regulated markets in the UK and overseas.
Why clients choose us
Reliable access to niche and hard to reach audiences
Faster turnaround on complex stakeholder recruitment
Deeper context and insight that reveal real drivers of behaviour
Clear, evidence based outputs that support commercial, strategic, and regulatory decisions
Trusted by leaders in complex, regulated markets such as financial services, energy & environment, and government transformation, our solutions provide you with the clarity to decide, and confidence to act.
Six reasons why your current approach to stakeholder engagement may not be producing results
The wrong voices are driving your commercial strategy
Generic panels can’t reach senior decision-makers in regulated or high-stakes environments. Details matter.
It’s not always clear which audiences matter most
Stakeholders aren't aligned on the audience, so research lacks direction or gets slowed down by internal politics.
Strategic teams are stuck wasting time on operations
Valuable time is lost sourcing niche audiences instead of generating insight and action.
Every research cycle starts from scratch
You don’t have an ongoing system for engaging key audiences - so progress stalls between research cycles.
Insights lack influence
Without credible voices in the room, your findings lack the weight needed to influence strategy, policy, or investment decisions.
Proximity is promised but rarely delivered
Most firms claim to be customer-centric - only some build the infrastructure to actually stay close to the people who matter.
What is Stakeholder Proximity™
Stakeholder Proximity™ is our method for helping you build a direct, ongoing connection with the people who shape your success.
It gives you:
Clarity on what audiences expect
Confidence in decisions before they land
Faster alignment across your organisation
A better understanding of market and regulatory shifts
A clear advantage over competitors who rely on assumptions
Stakeholder Proximity™ Solutions For Complex & Regulated Markets
Stakeholder Recruitment
Fast access to the right decision makers
We find and recruit the customers, brokers, users, experts, and regulators you need for high stakes insight.
Insight
& Strategy
Evidence for confident decisions
Rapid research sprints that test strategy, messaging, propositions, and regulatory approaches with the people who matter most.
Always-On Audience Access
A continuous view of stakeholder expectations
Keep a warm, engaged pool of real decision makers who can support ongoing testing, iteration, and strategic clarity.
If you struggle to access and fully engage the people in and around your organisation, you are not alone.
Many leaders in complex, regulated environments rely on outdated panels or slow research cycles.
This creates blind spots, internal disagreement, and delays that cost more than the research ever will.
Polar Insight helps you break that cycle by giving you fast access to real decision makers and the insight needed to act with confidence.
Ways to work with us
⚡︎
SPRINT
Fast insight in 15 days
Quick-turnaround stakeholder research or recruitment delivered in 15-30 days.
Ideal when you need rapid evidence to guide a decision or validate an idea.
↠
ACCELERATOR
Multi round discovery and validation
2-6 month programs designed to deepen stakeholder closeness, build internal capability, and generate a sustained flow of actionable insights.
⛶
PARTNERSHIP
Ongoing support with priority access
Year-round stakeholder engagement with guaranteed access, regular roundtables, and strategic advisory keeping you consistently close to your market.
Senior leaders operating in complex, regulated, environments love working with Polar Insight
"I've had the pleasure of being a client of Polar Insight on multiple occasions over the last eight years. Each time the team have been professional and insightful. They have mobilised quickly and produced high quality work. The research conducted has enabled my teams to better understand user needs, and create winning proposals which have improved citizen experiences for critical government services."
Ash, MD, Growth, Government Transformation Sector
“From the outset, [they] demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding our organisation, our challenges, and objectives. [They] approached the project with a sense of ownership and professionalism that was evident in every interaction. [Their] strategic thinking, responsiveness, and collaborative approach made them a highly effective and trusted partner. The work delivered was insightful, actionable, and aligned with our goals. I would confidently recommend James and Polar Insight to any organisation seeking high-quality, research-driven strategy with a thoughtful and personalised approach.”
Sanya, Product Lead, Healthcare Sector
VIDEO - How Embedding Stakeholder Proximity Led To A £369m Win For Sopra Steria
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✓ Reduced risk
De-risk strategic decisions with direct stakeholder input
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✓ Faster insight
Cut time-to-insight by up to 60% with pre-screened participants
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✓ Greater team alignment
Align internal teams with external stakeholder expectations
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✓ Heightened influence
9/10 clients say the insight they received directly influenced positive policy, product, or funding decisions
Case Studies: Proximity at Work
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Financial Services
By getting close to both brokers and commercial clients, a City lender turned insight into action. Structured conversations revealed where brokers truly influence lending decisions; those findings informed new onboarding and education that people actually used-lifting broker engagement and strengthening client relationships.
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ESG
Proximity to day-to-day operations helped a sustainability brand reposition its offer. Speaking directly with leaders across construction, retail and logistics surfaced real constraints and priorities around waste management, which guided a sharpened proposition and sales narrative aligned to what buyers value most.
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Policy
Bringing stakeholders across four countries together created shared ownership for a think tank. We convened senior public-sector leaders in focused roundtables and co-creation sessions, drawing out areas of agreement and tension. The resulting recommendations shaped the next phase of international programming.
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Consulting
Buyer-side proximity de-risked a go-to-market move. Rapid access to procurement decision-makers helped a global consultancy test messaging against real buying criteria; the validated story unlocked a promising new vertical and provided clear proof points for sales.
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Energy & Environment
Grounding decisions in SME reality improved adoption. Direct conversations with business leaders clarified how time-of-use tariffs are understood and chosen, informing pricing and messaging changes that made switching easier and increased uptake.
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Healthcare
Proximity to the intricacies of the inpatient journey led to targeted fixes. Engaging patients, family members and frontline staff surfaced the specific friction points that mattered most for a private healthcare group; the resulting operational changes improved patient satisfaction and supported better staff retention.
Is Polar Insight right for you?
You are in the right place if:
✓ You work in a complex or regulated market
✓Your decisions need evidence your board will trust
✓You need access to customers, brokers, experts, or regulators
✓You want an independent view
✓ You value clarity, speed, and precision
If you value proximity to decision-makers - not just another list of data - we may be a good fit for your organisation, and would encourage you reach out and connect with our team.
Still not sure? Check our fit below:
Let’s get you closer to the voices who matter.
Share what you’re working on, and we’ll show you how to connect with the stakeholders who can unlock clarity, confidence, and momentum for your next big move. Once your message has been received, a member of the Polar Insight team will be in touch within 24 hours to explore next steps.
FREE WEBINAR (ON-DEMAND)
How leading teams get closer to the stakeholders who matter
Why building proximity to the audiences you care about outperforms traditional research
In complex and regulated environments, the best insight doesn’t come from generic panels - it comes from engaging the people who make or influence decisions.
Our approach ensures your research meets the standard required by boards, regulators, and strategic leaders.
CX & Digital
Strategy & Planning
Product & Innovation
Brand & Comms
ESG & Policy