Our Expert Team

Customer Perceptions was founded in 1995 by Aidan Harte, at a time when mystery shopping was still relatively new to the Irish market. In fact, when we first started, we genuinely thought we had invented it. While the concept itself dates back much further, it was largely unfamiliar in Ireland, and our early work helped introduce structured mystery shopping as a credible and valuable business tool. In those early years, mystery shopping was primarily used to monitor compliance and employee integrity. As the market matured, so did we.

Today, our work extends far beyond those origins. We design and deliver integrated research, insight and training solutions, including mystery shopping, compliance audits, survey research and performance-focused training programmes.

From modest beginnings with a small client base and a field researcher panel of 250 people, the business has grown steadily and sustainably. Our team has expanded to more than 20 professionals spanning research design, analytics, insight generation and performance-focused training.

Our client base now spans multiple sectors and includes organisations of all sizes, from independent operators to multinational brands and public bodies. Our field researcher network now exceeds 17,000 trained professionals, enabling us to deliver research programmes at scale without compromising quality.

While our capabilities have expanded significantly over the years, our focus has remained consistent: delivering trusted insight that helps organisations understand behaviour, improve performance and make better decisions.