Joining the firm are Jeremy Marshall and Paul Crooke as senior research managers, Gregory Absalom as panel manager and Ross Leibbrandt as business development manager.

Marshall, who will be responsible for launching a new unit that callows clients to compare their website to competitors’ efforts, joins from Enterprise Planning and Research and previously had a spell with Nielsen Online as director of strategic analysis.

Crooke will look after some of Opinium’s key accounts and previously worked for the Tavistock Institute and Essential where he focused on the financial services and media research sectors.

Absalom was previously at Research Now while Leibbrandt founded and served as managing director at golf information firm Sidaro.

Opinium MD James Endersby (pictured) said: “Opinium Research continually looks for new ways to add value and enhance our offering to new and existing clients. This round of hiring forms part of our aggressive growth strategy for 2010, as they join at an excellent time for the company as we start to bring an exciting mix of new products and increased capabilities.”