Ashton (pictured) joins the agency from Populus, where he spent four years after graduating from university.

Deborah Mattinson said: “David has a broad experience of managing high insight accounts spanning the worlds of politics, media, business and sport, and will be a welcome and timely addition to the team as the business continues its rapid growth.”

Britain Thinks was formed last year by Cooke and Mattinson and aims to help organisations and business put public thinking “at the heart of their decision making”.

The firm will launch a series of contextual studies in the spring with a project exploring class identity and the impacts on lifestyles and brand choices.