Stokes (pictured) will lead global commercial and client engagement functions at Research Partnership and will play a key role in the development of the company’s upcoming commercial strategy.

Before taking up his new role, Stokes was senior director at the company, and has worked for the firm since 2000.

In his new role, Stokes will work with newly appointed director Claire Ajdukiewicz, and Ed Bell, business development manager.

Research Partnership has recently changed its leadership, with Gareth Phillips becoming chief executive earlier this year and founding directors Mary Assimakopoulos and Mark Jeffery stepping down from running the business.

Research Partnership was acquired by healthcare services business Ashfield for an undisclosed fee last year, and is part of parent company Inizio Advisory.

Founded in 1997, Research Partnership is headquartered in London with offices in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Lyon, Delhi and Singapore.

Phillips said: “We are delighted that Andy has accepted this position, which is critical to driving increased value to clients as we continue to scale.

“Andy is a respected director who has driven many important client-service initiatives, most recently establishing an agile proposal response unit to ensure best-in-class solutions are presented to each client challenge.

“I look forward to working with him as we roll out our commercial strategy in the coming months.”