The move comes as Juice's founder and MD, Steve Downes, steps down from Juice to set up his own agency offering strategic consultancy. He also plans to write a book on social media.

Ben has more than 10 years experience, working at leading agencies in the US, most recently MWW Group, where he supported clients including McDonalds, Nikon, Zumba and Samsung.

Sandy Lindsay, group MD at Tangerine, said: "Ben will add even more strategic weight and global brand experience to the digital side of our business.

"We have ambitious growth plans for the next six months and we're keen to learn from Ben's experience and expertise in this area as well as in the area of truly integrated, channel neutral campaigns. Social media was born in the US and continues to drive the agenda – Ben will help us stay ahead and build on our already strong position."

Steve said: "I am immensely proud of Juice Digital's achievements. It's broken a lot of new ground in social media marketing. I know it's left in great hands with Ben and Anna Wilson, two great operators. They have great ambitions for the business and I expect it to go on to even bigger things."