Together they will lead the newly-launched Convenience Market Place solution, intended to drive growth opportunities for retailers and manufacturers in the UK convenience market.

Lampard (pictured left) and Byron (pictured right) will both be based at IRI’s European head office in Bracknell. Lampard was previously category controller for UK Convenience and Discounter channels at Mars Confectionery, while Byron was customer director EMEA for the Pharmacy channel at Johnson & Johnson.

“Stephen’s extensive experience in developing client solutions and providing actionable business insight across the confectionery and healthcare sectors brings a fresh perspective and approach to the IRI team, whilst Stuart’s expertise in development and implementation enables us to help manufacturers to identify key growth areas such as gaps for best-selling lines,” said Kieran South, senior vice president, IRI UK.

“It is our priority to help clients in both retail and manufacturing pinpoint the latest market trends and enable them to make informed decisions to optimise price, promotion, package format and bring in new products. I have confidence that Stuart and Stephen will enable us to deliver on this objective.”