Mr Hankey has spent the last 20 years working in the commercial broking market in a number of account executive and sales roles in the corporate and SME sector, and latterly in the network arena with Bluefin.
He commented: "I look forward to working alongside Purple's partner insurers to help our existing members achieve their business goals as well as increasing our membership numbers throughout the North and Midlands."
Les Brewin, managing director of Purple, added: "Chris brings with him a wealth of relevant experience in the sector and has a great understanding of what brokers want and what will attract them to Purple.
"He will be an excellent addition to the team as we push on to make even greater strides in 2012."