Bridget Clare Rosewell, (born 18 September 1951) is a British
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
. Her expertise includes economic development, transport and agglomeration economics, development evaluation, infrastructure, forecasting, industry dynamics and competition as well as policy analysis related to these areas.
Early life and education
Born in
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Rosewell was educated at
Wimbledon High School
Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association.
History
Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Publ ...
(1958–69) and
St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...
where she gained a BA in Politics and Economics (1974) and an M.Phil. in Economics (1976). She was a lecturer in economics at
St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...
(1976–78), and at
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
(1978–81), then a Tutor in economics at
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...
(1981–84). She was concurrently a research officer in the Department of Economics and Statistics, Oxford University (1976–81).
Career
She was Deputy Director, Economics at the
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...
, then left to found a number of consultancies, including Business Strategies Ltd, now part of
Experian
Experian is an American–Irish multinational data analytics and consumer credit reporting company. Experian collects and aggregates information on over 1 billion people and businesses including 235 million individual U.S. consumers and more t ...
.
Rosewell is senior adviser of Volterra Partners, which she founded in 1998 with
Paul Ormerod
Paul Andrew Ormerod (born 20 March 1950) is a British economist who is a partner at Volterra Partners consultancy. Additionally, he is a visiting professor at UCL Centre for Decision Making Uncertainty.
Research
Ormerod has researched complexity ...
. Bridget's current business interests include Chair of Audit for
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
, and for
Atom Bank and the With Profits Committee for the
Royal London Group
The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, along with its subsidiaries, is the largest mutual insurer in the United Kingdom, with Group funds under management of over £150 billion. Group businesses provide around nine million policie ...
. She is also a Commissioner for the independent
National Infrastructure Commission
The National Infrastructure Commission is the executive agency responsible for providing expert advice to the UK Government on infrastructure challenges facing the UK.
Inaugurated in 2015, and established as an executive agency of HM Treasu ...
and has led on its project on Northern connectivity and the East West corridor from Cambridge to Oxford.
Bridget was the Chair of Governors, Wimbledon High School and has previously sat on the boards of
Britannia Building Society
The Britannia Building Society was founded as the Leek & Moorlands Building Society in Leek in 1856. It expanded steadily as a regional society until the late 1950s when it began a major expansion drive, partly through branch openings but also so ...
,
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: National Westminster Bank, trading as Ulster Bank (registere ...
and the
Department of Work and Pensions
, type = Department
, seal =
, logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg
, logo_width = 166px
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom
, headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...
. She was the Chief Economist and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority between 2002 and 2012. She has previously founded and developed three successful consultancies. She has also given evidence as an expert witness in a number of major competition cases as well as at several planning Inquiries.
Contributions to the field
Rosewell is interested in the concept of
agglomeration
Agglomeration may refer to:
* Urban agglomeration, in standard English
* Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as " city cluster".
* Economies of ag ...
, which quantifies the positive effects of the increases in economic density brought about by new infrastructure such as bridges and rail links.
Her work includes studies on risk and risk management, infrastructure and its funding, public and private sector co-operation, planning policy, and corporate management. She publishes and presents in these areas as well as working with clients.
Other work includes studies of the evolution of market structures, including in the market for pollution permits; urban systems; and
statistical model validation
In statistics, model validation is the task of evaluating whether a chosen statistical model is appropriate or not. Oftentimes in statistical inference, inferences from models that appear to fit their data may be flukes, resulting in a misunderstan ...
.
Research interests
Her research interests focus on the economic performance of local economies, the role of infrastructure, the performance of markets, and business organisations. She is especially interested in the application of the tools of complex systems analysis to these issues.
Personal life
She speaks fluent French and some German. She is divorced, with two adult children. Her hobbies include painting, walking, reading and picture-framing.
Honours
In the
2013 Birthday Honours
The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...
, Rosewell was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) "for services to the economy". In 2016, she was elected a
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences.
Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used th ...
(FAcSS).
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the
2019 New Year Honours
The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
for services to the Economy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosewell, Bridget
1951 births
Living people
English economists
British women economists
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Wimbledon High School
People from Wimbledon, London
Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences
Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire