Melbourne Office and Hires for Verve

Verve, which focuses on culture, communities and 'smart digital research', has launched a 'hub' in Melbourne, Australia and appointed Christina Tonkes to lead it as Senior Director. Meanwhile Mirjam Grari joins the team in Sydney.

The firm is headquartered in London, with offices in Manchester, Chicago, Romania, South Africa, Brighton, UK and Toronto, Canada. It appointed Rikki Pearce ten months ago as Managing Director in Sydney, and Head of a new 'Global Advanced Quant and Analytics' practice, since when the team has a acquired a number of major clients, and Verve Australia says it has 'ambitious growth plans for the year ahead'.

Tonkes (pictured above) previously ran her own freelance business in Australia, after working for more than two years as a Group Strategy Director at Hall & Partners in London.

Grari (pictured below) joins as Associate Director of Futures & Innovation, charged with bringing the ignite[at]VERVE proposition to the Australian market, applying her expertise in futures, culture and innovation to build on extensive experience at Absolut and Kantar Consulting.

Pearce comments: 'Attracting the best talent is a key priority for Verve. We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Christina and Mirjam to the Australian team as we continue to build our distinctive offering in the Australian market'.

Web site: www.addverve.com .