Douglas McWilliams

Economics forecaster

Chief executive of cebr (Centre for Economics and Business Research), one of the UK’s leading specialist economics consultancies. He started cebr in 1993 and has built it up to profitable revenues of over £1 million. Douglas is also one of Europe’s foremost economics forecasters and commentators, covering trends in the UK, European and international economies. In addition to his technical skills he is known for his understanding the implications of economic trends for business decisions, for his understanding of the economics of the technology sectors and for policy and for his skills at communicating such information in terms that can be understood by non-specialists.

Douglas is a well-known keynote speaker at conferences (he has a great sense of humour) and frequent guest commentator on radio and television. He advises clients on economic and business trends and the implications for their strategies. After a successful career in industry as IBM United Kingdom's chief economist, Douglas was appointed chief economic adviser to the Confederation of British Industry, where he received the Sunday Times' Golden Guru award for best UK economic forecaster in 1992. Douglas was visiting professor at Kingston University Business School for ten years, and has also been a council member at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and chairman of the economics forecasting group of the European federation of employers' organisations, UNICE.