Walnut Unlimited appoints a raft of new research directors

Beenish Cheema joins as research director, bolstering Walnut’s financial services team with brand strategy and campaign evaluation experience. Cheema boasts over 13 years’ experience with Future Thinking and joins Walnut after nearly two years with Ipsos Mori.

Aislinn Hanna also assumes the position of research director, making the move from Kokoro after climbing the ranks and working with huge brands from a range of sectors.

Elsewhere, Nors Kinsey joins as the third new research director after being in the industry for more than 25 years, most recently at MMR as senior account director following 15 years at Future Thinking, working across a number of retail and leisure accounts. Kinsey will provide support across retail, shopper and customer/user experience projects.

Bethan Palmer completes the line-up of research directors added to the roster. Palmer boasts expertise in quant and qual methods from DVJ Insights, Hall & Partners, HPI Research (now part of Savanta) and Kantar Public, plus further brand-side experience at the Rugby Football Union. Palmer will provide support across retail clients, as well as bolstering the agency’s sports credentials.

In other recruitment news from the London-based agency, Beth Shears has been appointed to the role of associate director, bringing experience from both Kantar WorldPanel and Media by Kantar. Shears will continue her work in tech and media-oriented research at Walnut.

Drew Still completes the line-up of new hires, joining Walnut’s social research arm, ICM Unlimited, as an associate director. Still brings a wealth of public sector, corporate and third sector experience from roles at Britain Thinks, Decidedly and Future Thinking.

“Each of these new recruits brings something unique to the table”, said Walnut Unlimited managing director Chris Bland.

“Collectively, we’re welcoming a wealth of hands-on research experience and sector expertise that will benefit existing clients and attract new ones. We’re looking forward to seeing how they all bring their own style to our way of working, while keeping human understanding at the heart of everything we do.”