Jake Orpen (pictured) takes the the reins in Johannesburg as country MD, replacing Charlotte Jackson who left the firm in November after nearly two years in the role.

Orpen was the founder of Conexus, a Synovate business unit, and has also recently served as a director at Quality Metrix.

In the UK, Benedict Steer joins Synovate as a research director within the financial and business services research team, having previously worked for GfK Financial as head of its Financial Research Survey.

Finally, in Chicago the company is collaborating with Duke University to set up a centre focused on advancing research in the area of shopper decision-making.

The Shopper Insights Centre for Leadership and Innovation with by run by a board, overseen by Duke and Synovate, featuring representatives from global packaged goods companies and academics from other universities.

Synovate’s North America CEO Scott Miller said the centre will fund research into issues that are “critical to advancing our understanding of how consumers make buying decisions”.