Good decisions depend on good data. Government publishes a wide range of relevant statistics, but collating them and drawing out what matters for a particular project can be complex and time consuming. Dr Benjamin Warner combines economic knowledge with technical data skills to turn raw data into clear, usable evidence, whether that supports a business case, a planning submission, a market assessment or a policy question.

Dr Warner has applied these skills across a wide range of work, including house price analysis for the BusConnects business cases, a demographic assessment for a pumped hydro storage project, analysis to identify new routes and build an improved economic modelling tool for the Cross Border Greenways project, the business case for a recycling plant, an independent review of an inflation modelling approach, and a port capacity forecasting model for the Irish Maritime Development Office.

What is offered

Work is carried out using tools including QGIS for mapping, Python for analysis and modelling, and Power BI and Databricks for large datasets and dashboards. Results can be delivered as reports, maps, dashboards or underlying models, depending on how they will be used.

• Socio-economic and demographic assessments: Understanding local economic and demographic conditions is vital to the success of every project, particularly where demand depends on who lives where, as with housing, health or education. We can produce reports and dashboards which make the key factors easy to understand.
• Geospatial analysis: Mapping the location of populations, facilities and catchments to show where demand sits and who a project serves, and presenting the results visually so that they can be understood at a glance.
• Bespoke analysis: Sometimes more complex questions need to be answered, and these do not always have a simple or obvious approach. Analysis can be based around literature reviews, statistical analysis, economic forecasting and other approaches, drawing on experience in academia, government and the private sector.

Forecasting and economic briefing

The economic outlook can change quickly, and published forecasts do not always cover the measures most useful to a particular client. Dr Warner has a PhD in time series forecasting and can help in two ways:

• Forecasting: Custom forecasts which meet specific business or project needs, where the standard government forecasts do not provide the key metrics required.
• Economic briefing: Routine monthly, quarterly or annual briefings, or bespoke briefings at key points such as before a major investment, which draw together the most relevant data alongside clear commentary on what it means for you.

Dr Warner can lead a piece of analysis in full, or provide the data and modelling within a wider team. See Services for the ways of working together.