James is the Deputy Director for the Innovation Growth Lab (IGL) based in Nesta’s Research, Analysis and Policy team.

James leads on partner engagement in his role at IGL, helping IGL partners to access evidence from trials, identify and develop their own ideas for policy experiments, and build their capacity to take these forward.

Before joining Nesta, James was a Senior Economist and Head of Enterprise Policy Development and Evaluation at the UK Business Department. He directed the analysis of various SME support and finance programmes and oversaw a large research programme. James established many RCTs during this time, ranging from small behavioural trials through to major policy experiments such as the Growth Vouchers Programme.

James holds an MSc in Economics from Warwick University and a BSocSc in Mathematical Economics from the University of Birmingham. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his young family and is a keen DIYer.