Laurence (pictured) has joined from Kantar Media where he was most recently TGI product director and worked at the company for 10 years. He also spent 11 years working for BMRB.

He will report to CEO, Greg Grimmer who said: "Mediatel Connected is our flagship product and still leads the industry in information provision. However, we are always looking to improve and when someone of Rob’s talent and experience approached us it was too good an opportunity not to hire him.

"His wealth of knowledge gleaned at another industry heavyweight like Kantar/TGI will bring a new outlook to our Connected team and I look forward to the product enhancements he will bring to keep Connected at the heart of the media industry."

Laurence added: "I loved my time at Kantar but felt it was time for a new challenge. Mediatel has an excellent reputation in the industry and the Connected platform is highly respected within the sector."

The platform was previously headed by Julie MacManus who has moved into the newly created role of head of business development, working with Grimmer as Mediatel Group explores news areas of growth.