Saunders (pictured) has worked at Sony Mobile Communications since 2014, firstly as sales director, and most recently as country head for the UK and Ireland. Prior to Sony, he was head of sales for Samsung’s UK mobile business for two years.

In his new role, Saunders succeeds Ivar Michaelsen, who was promoted to vice-president of market insights at GfK in February. During the interim period, the region has been supervised by chief customer officer Christian Erlandson, who joined the company in November 2017.

Saunders takes up the role on 24 September. He will be responsible for GfK’s business activities in the Northern European region, reporting to Erlandson.

Erlandson said: "With Warren Saunders, GfK has won a senior leadership team member with longstanding management experience and a strong track record in our focus area and key markets. He has successfully driven corporate development in challenging market environments.

"I am sure that he will significantly contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of GfK in our Northern European markets and support our team in bringing our company back on a sustainable growth path."

The appointment comes as GfK sells four of its custom research divisions to Ipsos in a deal worth €105m.