McGuire was last at Ipsos in New York, where he served as a senior vice president, but he also had a spell with the company in the UK as managing director for public affairs research.

Bigsby, meanwhile, was previously at ESA Market Research where she held the role of business group manager. Before that, she was an associate director at Ipsos and a senior associate director at BMRB. On the clientside, she worked in research roles for Parcelforce Worldwide and Ofcom.

Samson offers research in the areas of corporate responsibility, digital communications, reputation management, public affairs and policy, and stakeholder relations.

McGuire said: “Clients tell us they need the breadth of vision that the larger agency experience brings, coupled with the agility of the smaller agency.”