Christopher Barnes Named First Escalent President

In the US, analytics and advisory firm Escalent has promoted Christopher Barnes to the role of President, responsible for leading a global team of execs to grow their sectors; build relationships with clients; and identify opportunities for investment, partnerships and alliances.

Escalent, which was previously known as Market Strategies International-Morpace, creates a flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. The company now has 2,000 team members, following its recent acquisition of brand and communications research consultancy Hall & Partners and online community specialist C Space, from marcoms giant Omnicom.

Barnes (pictured) joined in 2016 as Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing financial services and product strategy. Prior to this, he was SVP of MR agency Acturus (acquired by MetrixLab in 2017); senior advisor to the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, US House of Representatives; and Managing Partner at Pulsar Research and Consulting. He also co-founded the Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University of Connecticut, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times and Time Magazine.

In his new role, Barnes remains on the company's Executive Committee and continues reporting into CEO Melissa Sauter, who comments: 'Chris is an exceptional leader who is equally skilled at driving value for clients and motivating teams to achieve their goals. Years ago, Escalent set in motion a clear purpose and vision for the business, and Chris has been instrumental in helping us realize that vision and establish strong relationships with our employees, clients and shareholders. I look forward to the next chapter of Escalent's journey with Chris serving as President.'

Web site: www.escalent.co .