ONE of the most influential figures behind the rise of the SNP is leaving his role at the top of the party.
Kevin Pringle, the party's long-serving director of communications, will move into the private sector by joining Charlotte Street Partners.
He is seen as part of a tight-knit inner circle at the top of the SNP, alongside figures including Nicola Sturgeon and her husband and party chief executive Peter Murrell. The First Minister once described Mr Pringle as her party's "biggest asset".
The recruitment of Mr Pringle, who first started working with the party in 1989, will be seen as a significant coup for the strategic communications and lobbying firm due to his close personal links with those making significant decisions about Scotland's future. He was described by his new employer as "one of the outstanding communications strategists of his generation."
In his new role as partner, he will work alongside Managing Partner and Founder Andrew Wilson, a former SNP MSP and economist. Chris Deerin, a columnist for the Daily Mail and former political editor of the Daily Record, is a partner at the company.
Malcolm Robertson, managing partner and founder, is the son of Labour peer and ex-Nato general secretary George Robertson and is married to the daughter of former Labour leader John Smith.
Mr Pringle said: "Following a remarkable and intense few years of political campaigning, I'm looking forward to a fresh challenge in the private sector. Charlotte Street Partners is an exciting young business with a high-quality team.
"They already have an impressive mix of major clients and I am keen to play my part in helping to take the business forward. My final few weeks with the SNP will be spent at Westminster, where the new-look House of Commons promises to provide a fascinating experience."
Mr Pringle took a break from the party in 2004, a year after unsuccessfully standing as a candidate for the SNP in Edinburgh Central in the 2003 Holyrood election.
He returned to the SNP after a brief stint in the communications department at Scottish Gas, helping to mastermind the party's historic victory at the 2007 Holyrood elections.
Mr Pringle came to be seen as Alex Salmond's most trusted lieutenant when he was First Minister, working as a Scottish Government special advisor, before taking on the director of communications role with the SNP ahead of the independence referendum.
Chairman of Charlotte Street Partners, Sir Angus Grossart, said: "In Kevin, we have recruited one of the outstanding communications strategists of his generation. We are pleased that he has chosen to bring his talents to Charlotte Street Partners at such a significant moment in Scottish and UK public life."
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