Louisa Jordison joined Sygnature Discovery in 2019 as Director of Strategic Planning, and enters the company’s boardroom having previously spent more than a decade in Deloitte’s corporate finance advisory team and worked as Senior Strategic Planning Manager at Experian.

She replaces Victoria Tabiner, who is stepping down after 10 years at Sygnature.

Dr Simon Hirst, CEO and founder of Sygnature Discovery, said: "Louisa has an incredibly strong finance background and will bring a wealth of experience to the role of CFO.

"Louisa’s appointment comes at an exciting time for our business as we develop relationships with customers new and old in our key US, UK, European and Asian markets.

Louisa Jordison, Chief Financial Officer at Sygnature Discovery, said: "I am looking forward to working with the board, my team and all colleagues in my new capacity.

"This is a fantastic place to work and home to real scientific innovation, so there are plenty of brilliant opportunities ahead of us."

Earlier this year, the firm received a significant investment from Five Arrows Principal Investments, the European corporate private equity arm of Rothschild & Co – with the exiting shareholder, Phoenix Equity Partners, having seen Sygnature’s revenue more than double since September 2017.

Simon added: "This has truly been a tremendous period for Sygnature Discovery.

"As we look to 2022 and beyond, the future looks very bright indeed."

The UK-based contract research organisation is aiming to build on its success after growing from 200 to 450 employees in under four years.