Simoné van der Merwe has been named as senior research executive following three years at Human8, and will support accounts such as E.ON Next, CooperVision and Shell.

Yolinda Koekemoer has been appointed as research executive after two years at research and customer experience agency IQbusiness, and will support the Whitbread account at Verve as well as working on Mars Petcare projects.

Sne Ngxukumeshe and Thokozani Ntuli has both joined as research associates and both previously worked at Kantar.

Managing director at Verve Africa Heather Tluczek said: “Nurturing young talent has always been a central part of Verve’s culture.

“We’re delighted to welcome new team members in support of global growth ambitions; and in turn offer them exposure to cutting edge digital, cultural and AI methodologies. A wonderful way, too, to mark near three years in local market.”