Cochran left Catalyst in April and at the time he was bound under an agreement not to disclose where he was going or when he was leaving. He has not been replaced and his departure led to the creation of a management board headed by Rob Morrice, group chief executive of Catalyst owner Citigate Smarts.
He joins Iris as a board director following a three-year stint at Catalyst. Prior to Catalyst he worked at Hicklin Slade across the agency's Coors, Diageo and Britvic business.
Cochran will work at strengthening the agency's new business record in the UK and spearheading a drive for pan-European new business.
In the last 12 months, Iris has tripled the number of people in its direct marketing division run by David Morley with new campaigns launching in June for Network Rail and the House of Commons.
Ian Millner, Iris managing director, said: "Jeremy has the Iris DNA -- honesty, openness, dynamism and talent. His management and business development track record will help us blaze a trail across the Europe.
"We need to continue to stay true to our principles around investment in clients and people, particularly as our numbers continue to rise and Jeremy is just such an investment for all the teams here."
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