Our Leadership Team

Chairman
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Switchboard: +44 (0)1865 268 900

John Walker is Chairman of Oxford Economics, which he founded in 1981.

From 1973 to 1977, John worked in the UK Treasury, where he became an economic adviser in the short-term forecasting division. He then worked for the consultancy arm of The Economist Newspaper, before becoming a Special Adviser to the EEC Commission in Brussels in 1980, where he was co-ordinator of forecasts for all the EEC countries and related forecasts for the US and Japan.

John returned to the UK in 1983 to work full-time for Oxford Economic Forecasting. He has headed Oxford's move into international forecasting, developing strong links with economists around the world and co-ordinating the development of the PC versions of the Oxford models that are now widely used in the UK and the rest of the world. As well as being a much-respected commentator on global economic prospects, John leads major consultancy projects with government departments and multinational companies from Europe and the United States on issues ranging from international capital flows to developments in the Middle East economies.

Chief Executive Officer
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Switchboard: +44 (0)1865 268 913

Adrian Cooper is responsible for coordinating and managing Oxford Economics’ global economic analysis, forecasting and consultancy activities, and overseeing its team based in Oxford, London, Belfast, Paris, New York, Philadelphia, Singapore, and the UAE. He has led Oxford Economics’ work on a wide array of consultancy projects, ranging from policy advice to government departments in Europe, the US, Africa, and Asia to detailed analysis of the economic impact of particular industries and investment proposals.

Adrian spent the first seven years of his career with HM Treasury, England. During this time, he worked on the analysis of tax and other economic policy changes as part of the preparations for the UK Budget. He was also the coordinator of the government's macroeconomic forecast for two years.

Prior to joining Oxford Economics in 1994, Adrian was UK economist for James Capel & Company, responsible for analysing and forecasting the UK economy for institutional investors, as well as briefing Capel's own traders. Adrian was educated at the University of Bristol, England, where he gained a first-class degree in Economics; and at the London School of Economics and Political Science, England, where he achieved a distinction in the MSc in Economics and won the Ely Devons prize for outstanding performance in the degree examinations.

Executive Chairman
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Direct Line: +61 (02) 8458 4211
Switchboard: +61 (02) 8458 4200

Robert joined BIS Shrapnel in 1984, was appointed a Director of the company in 1987 and Managing Director in July 2007. In March 2017, Oxford Economics took majority control of BIS Shrapnel and it became BIS Oxford Economics and Robert continues as Managing Director. He has over 38 years' experience in forecasting building activity and is a regular commentator on prospects for the residential property market.

Until becoming Managing Director Robert was responsible for our Australian, New Zealand, and Asian building forecasting services.

Robert is regarded as Australia's leading forecaster on the building and residential property markets. His views and comments are regularly sought by the national media. Many of Australia's leading builders, developers and building material manufacturers consult with Robert in preparing their annual budget plans.

Managing Director
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Direct Line: +61 (02) 8458 4234

David is a Director at BIS Oxford Economics having moved from the London office in 2013. He established Oxford Economics in Australia and spent several successful years in growing the business and leading key projects. More recently he was heavily involved in the acquisition of BIS Shrapnel and the subsequent integration in addition to heading the business development team.

Prior to joining Oxford Economics he worked for KPMG as a management consultant, specialising in financial risk management including stress testing and scenario analysis. During this time he was also seconded to the main Financial Services regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He completed his degree in Economics at Nottingham University and also studied the chartered institute for securities investment diploma.

Financial Controller
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Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4203

Kristina Ballm is Financial Controller at BIS Oxford Economics and is responsible for the finance and administrative area of the business.

Prior to joining BIS Oxford Economics in June 2018 she worked as a Finiancial Controller at RFi Group in Sydney and Kuoni Global Travel Services in London. Kristina is a Certified Chartered Accountant having gained her ACCA membership in the UK. She also holds a bachelors degree in economics from Kaunas University of Technology.

Associate Director – Building and Construction
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Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4233

Adrian Hart is an Associate Director of BIS Oxford Economics. He is responsible for analysis and forecasts for the building, construction, maintenance and mining sectors across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific. He also works on a range of related consultancy projects including construction costs and cost escalation, workforce capability analysis and demand forecasting. Adrian undertakes briefings with senior management teams, as well as speaking regularly at BIS Oxford Economics conferences and other industry events.

Adrian has over 17 years of experience with BIS Oxford Economics as Economist, with a focus on analysis and forecasts of the Australian economy, investment, construction and mining. Prior to this, he was an Associate Lecturer in Economics at the University of Sydney as well as a research officer for Westir Ltd producing economics and statistical reports for the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). Adrian holds a 1st class Honours degree in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Chief Economist
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Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4284

Sarah Hunter joined Oxford Economics in June 2010 as a member of the macroeconomics team. She currently leads the macroeconomics team within BIS Oxford Economics, and is responsible for the Australia Macro Service, our flagship economics subscription service which provides clients with forecasts and analysis of Australia’s economy at the macro, industry and state level. As part of this service, Sarah takes a leading role in presenting the Australia and global outlook to clients in the region, and she is a regular commentator in the national press. Sarah is also responsible for the Asia-Pacific macro consulting team, who provide clients across the region with tailored macroeconomic analysis. During her time at Oxford Economics she has worked on a number of projects including estimating and forecasting household income by income band, enhancing and expanding the company’s modelling of the energy sector, developing methodologies for financial institution stress testing scenarios, and developing quantitative models and analysis for due diligence reports for infrastructure asset transactions.

Sarah has a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, which she passed with distinction.

Prior to joining Oxford Economics she completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Oxford, where her thesis modelled the impact of World War I on Britain’s position in the global economy.

Associate Director – Transactions and Infrastructure
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Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4210

Darren became part of the Economics and Research team with BIS Oxford Economics in January 2012 and currently heads the Transaction & Infrastructure unit. In the Infrastructure sector, Darren’s team has developed a comprehensive suite of commodity specific freight projections covering interstate movements by road and rail, rail-to-port linkages, urban container movements, port trade (bulk and containerised) and coastal and international shipping. Darren holds a Masters of Economics with distinction from the University of Sydney, a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Calgary, and has started a PhD in Microeconomic Theory with Queen Mary, University of London.

For Transactions, Darren’s team has provided buy- and sell-side advisory services, generally as Macroeconomic and Commercial Due Diligence, for over $85 billion in transactions over the past five years. Chiefly amongst these have been the Land Registries (NSW, South Australia Victoria), Electricity (TransGrid, Ausgrid, Endeavour), Ports (Melbourne, Darwin, Newcastle, Brisbane, Botany and Kembla), Rail (Pacific National / Aurizon), and Road (WestConnex, Queensland Motorways Ltd).

Associate Director – Building and Construction Market Research
Email
Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4217

Paul Giles is a Associate Director at BIS Oxford Economics. He is responsible for managing the Market Research Unit, which works across a range of industry sectors, delivering multiple syndicated studies and bespoke research projects.

Key sector analysis is provided across the household appliances market, covering whitegoods, climate control, floor care, hot water systems and barbecues. Paul also oversees all our building materials research, across new dwellings, home improvements and the non-residential building sectors.

Paul is a member of the AMSRS (Australian Market & Social Research Society) and has an Honours Degree in Science from the University of New South Wales.

Associate Director – Head of Consulting Australasia
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Direct Line +61 (02) 8458 4224

Andrew Tessler is the Head of Consulting, Australasia. He has over 20 years’ experience as an economist, including four years at the New South Wales Treasury and seven at Booz & Co (now PwC Strategy&). He also served five years as a law enforcement intelligence officer.

Andrew’s work has covered a diverse range of sectors (with a particular focus on transport and infrastructure) and has included economic appraisals, economic impact studies, valuations, rate of return studies, market analysis and program reviews. Previous projects have included assessment of the economic impact of NSW Ports, economic and financial appraisals of Singapore metro extensions, economic valuation of the Great Barrier Reef; economic assessment of the British Library; analysis of the effects of cybercrime and an economic valuation of the cost of crime in Northern Ireland.

Andrew was educated at the University of Sydney, where he majored in Economics and Government, gaining a first-class BA, and at the University of New South Wales, where he obtained a Master of Commerce (Econometrics and Marketing). He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Transport Management from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and is a past joint winner of the AC Nielsen (Australia) prize in Market Research.

Directors

Senior Managers