The other board members – Hartmut Scheffler, Winfried Hagenhoff and Peter Braun – remain in their posts.

Hötzel (pictured), who first joined Infratest in 1973, continues in his role as director of TNS Central Europe.

Kösters started out working in business development at publisher Bertelsmann, and later became a divisional CEO at Springer. He went on to become a member of the firm’s board, with responsibility for Asia, as well as for various publishing and sales activities in the US and Europe.

Hötzel said the change came at the right time for TNS Infratest. “We have weathered the general financial crisis in Germany well, done our homework and set the course for more highly successful years,” he said.