LONDON — Lansons has appointed its first strategy director, hiring David Rowson to lead its new research and strategy offer.

Rowson joins the independent reputation management and PR agency from business strategy and management consulting firm Yonder Consulting (formerly Populus), where he co-led the government and corporate affairs specialism and worked with clients across the sport, technology, finance, media and telecommunications sectors, including the Premier League, BT Group, KPMG and Natwest.

The move is one of the first senior appointments under Lansons CEO Gordon Tempest-Hay, the former Teneo and Blue Rubicon chief executive who joined at the start of the year in the first leadership shake up at the agency since its formation by Tony Langham and Clare Parsons more than 30 years ago.

Tempest-Hay said: “We are building a capability at Lansons to help resolve the most intractable problems facing businesses and society, and to have someone of David’s experience and expertise to drive that forward is something of a coup.”

He added that more senior appointments would be announced in the coming months.

Rowson said: “I’m delighted to be joining Lansons at such an exciting time for the agency. It’s an excellent business with a strong reputation and big ambitions, and I’m really looking forward to developing a research and strategy capability that will help drive the agency forward.”

In March this year, Langham and Parsons announced they had reduced their stakes in Lansons, which is a Limited Liability Partnership, as part of succession planning.