Our Story

GMT+ is a behavioural science, data analysis, and research firm. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. We use rigorous analysis and research to design behaviour change interventions for clients in all sectors of the economy. And we love what we do.

Those are the facts, here is our story.

Arising from graduate work in behavioural economics, Grant began getting more calls from organisations all over the place to apply behavioural economics to generate behaviour change, do data analytics, and research generally. At the same time Mike was beginning to help companies with their online presence and search optimisation. Finally, Tom was completing his master’s in economics and growing into a truly strong quantitative analyst. The three friends soon found that their conversations circling the idea of starting a company that used all of their talents.

They were young, they were care-free, they had time, there was demand for what they did, and so they did. They decided to call the company GMT+; Grant, Mike, Tom, plus you, the client.

They opened a bank account, they registered with the CIPC. Mike built the website. They made business cards.

And they got clients.

The work grew, and soon the company was much more than a hobby. Clients enjoyed the insight of their data analytics, and the rigorous creativity and practical usefulness of applying behavioural economics to solve their  behaviour change problems. Largely through word of mouth, more clients came calling. 

GMT+ became a company centred on three things: applying behavioural science to generate behavioural change, helping clients organise and analyse their own data, and doing original research (such as surveys and experiments). 

While the work was growing, so were the friends. Tom finished his masters and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a promising career in public finance. Mike found the demand for website development and search engine optimisation growing beyond all expectations, and Grant had emerged as the core of GMT+’s core offering. It was time for all three to specialise. 

So, in 2019, Grant bought Mike and Tom out and became the sole owner and director of GMT+

Today, GMT+ continues to grow. Grant manages a fluctuating team of exceptionally talented graduates (largely drawn from economics and the quantitative sciences). And we love our clients. Some have been with us for years, while others pop in and out as the need arises.

And some hear about us from old clients and introduce themselves for the first time. 

We enjoy the relationships that we’ve built with the people in the various organisations that we work with. We enjoy working with them to sift through their data, or conduct original research, to understand the behaviour of flesh-and-blood people and what might be keeping them back from living their best life, whether that be not taking up a government program that public servants have worked hard to design and fund, or consistently choosing to drive in peak traffic, or not working as a team, not saving for retirement, or any number of other things. 

We enjoy working with our clients to craft behaviour change interventions that are both practical and likely to have a meaningful impact on behaviour.  And we enjoy tracking the outcomes of these interventions, both the thrill of seeing something work, as well as the learning and re-design when they don’t.

We love people, we love understanding people, and we love using that to help people. And so do our clients. 

Come and join our story.