About Us > Senior staff > CV of Anthony Barker | 
| Anthony Barker Director BSc (Bristol), MSc (Warwick) |
Anthony Barker has wide experience in directing and managing projects, notably in the areas of regional economic development, sustainable economic development, and the implications of new technologies. He also oversees CE's development and application of the Chelmer population and housing model.
Projects he has undertaken recently include directing a study developing alternative scenarios for DG Environment to assist it develop a vision for a sustainable Europe by 2050; a study (also for DG Environment) into the macro-economic view of sustainability; CE's contribution to the Annual Report on SMEs 2011 for DG Enterprise in which the company constructed data and forecasts for the performance of firms by sizeband across Europe; CE's contributions to a major European study on the design and application of Integrated Sustainability Assessments; studies on the economic impact of climate change on the Yorkshire & Humber and North East economies; the latest update of the REEIO (Regional Economy Environment Input Output) model for the SCPnet consortium (having managed its original development and previous updating); modelling the growth prospects of the Liverpool city-region economy in the latest in a series of studies undertaken for local partners since 2005; the application of the Chelmer demographic model to support the planning bodies develop new regional development strategies for the South East and East of England develop regions. He managed CE's support to the Regional Economic Forecasting Panel in the North West of England (from 2004 to 2011 when the Panel ceased), a role which was extended in 2009/10 to involve the production of consensus sub-regional forecasts and analysis of the aspirations and plans for growth for sub-regional development bodies. Other recent projects he has directed or managed include a study for a major water company into the impact of the recession on population growth and housebuilding; a study for EEDA of the resource and CO2 implications of alternative growth trajectories as part of the evidence base supporting the East of England Regional Economic Strategy; several studies for water companies providing economic and water demand projections to support their submissions to Ofwat; a study on the impact that various regional strategies will have on future greenhouse gas emissions in Yorkshire & the Humber; and an important study on the future prospects for labour demand and supply in the South East in the context of housing proposals of the submitted draft South East Plan. As part of the latter study he supported the South East County Leaders at the Examination in Public of the draft South East Plan in 2006. Other projects he has directed include a study examining how economic development, local demographic trends, and the demand and availability of housing influence one another for in the London borough of Southwark; he was project co-ordinator for a major pan-European collaborative study into the socio-economic impact of technology in Europe for DG Information Society of the European Commission.
For several years he managed CE's Local Economy Service and led the development of CE's regional and local economy work, applying the Local Economy Forecasting Model (LEFM) to case studies of particular localities. In this role he has managed projects for a variety of local organisations, including LSCs, local authorities and Regional Development Agencies, and these have involved the incorporation in the model-based forecast of qualitative and other 'soft' information gathered from local sources. The projects have included assessing the impact of European Structural funds, preparing alternative local development scenarios under alternative assumptions for policy actions, and assessing the economic impacts of major local employers. He has managed the application of LEFM to local areas of Europe and the development of major enhancements of the design of LEFM.
He supervises CE's services to the UK water and electricity sectors, including the provision of economic forecasts tailored to the areas which the companies serve. During 1996-97 he managed an authoritative study of methods of forecasting the demand for water for the water industry's jointly supported research body and the Environment Agency, following which he managed demand forecasting projects for a number of water companies to assist them with their preparations for the then forthcoming Periodic Review. He has since directed updated studies for a number of these clients as part of their preparations for the 2004 and 2009 Periodic Reviews.
He obtained an Upper Second in his first degree and subsequently took his MSc at Warwick. During 1992-93 he worked at Salford University Business Services on regional economic analysis, where he took over primary responsibility for the preparation of forecasts and reports on the North West economy. He also undertook forecasts for the other regions of the UK.
Image scanned from photograph taken by Dorothy Hahn