Consulting Team
We are a team of highly qualified, experienced, and motivated consultants, researchers and analysts, who apply leading edge approaches to project and policy evaluation.
Douglas Fairgray
PhD (Economic Geography)
Director
Douglas has 40 years of consulting and research experience, and established Market Economics Ltd in 2001 after 7 years as Managing Director of McDermott Fairgray Group. Having led over 900 consultancy projects for major commercial and government clients, reporting to corporate and government heads, he is frequently engaged as an expert witness for proceedings in Environment Court, Environmental Protection Authority, as well as High Court and Supreme Court as required. Douglas is a qualified Hearings Commissioner through the Making Good Decisions framework, and an Associate of the NZPI. A number of important decisions have acknowledged his expertise, in fields as diverse as protecting the Mackenzie Basin landscapes, the importance of efficient urban form to provide for community wellbeing and enablement, efficiency and sustainability, and seeking socially efficient outcomes for the Rena wreck.
He has expertise in examining how business and community activities have effect on core RMA and LGA matters, driving social, economic and cultural wellbeing, and urban sustainability. Douglas has been at the forefront of methodologies to meet the ‘evidence base’ requirements of the RMA and LGA, developing and implementing a wide range of methods and models for commercial and government entities. In this vein, he provided key input to the MfE guidance on S32 of the RMA, and was presenter on economic aspects of s32 for the MfE/RMLA nationwide workshops during 2014.
Douglas works extensively in urban growth and housing, examining key economic drivers, housing affordability and dwelling ownership, and the societal implications, including presenting core evidence on the economic basis of the Auckland Unitary Plan. He is currently heavily engaged in assisting councils in key high growth areas to achieve compliance with the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity, assessing housing needs, land requirements, development feasibility, and analysing minor economy and market conditions. These capabilities include spatial interaction models and Geographic Information Systems, and methods for policy analysis, market studies, demographic and community assessment, social impact and economic impact assessment.
Douglas is a member of the RMLA, an associate of the NZ Institute of Management and NZ Planning Institute, and lectures to under-graduate geography classes.
021 579 786
09 915 5514
Greg Akehurst
BA (Geography), BCom (Economics)
Director
Greg has over 20 years of experience in consulting to the public and private sector in New Zealand and Australia. He is a founding director of Market Economics and annually leads 50 projects focusing on growth and change in the New Zealand economy.
Greg works on projects nationally and in recent years has focused on business and residential land use analysis, impact assessment and labour market analysis. For MBIE Greg developed the NCOM model that translates growth and change in New Zealand’s construction sector into skill and occupation requirements.
He also has special interest in sector studies and is involved in quantifying the role the marine Industry, aggregate extraction, cruise tourism and major events such as the America’s Cup and the Rugby World Cup 2011 play in the regional and national economies.
Greg has developed key approaches to inform National Policy Statements for central government. For MBIE he drafted the guidance documents for non-residential land assessment for the NPS-UDC, while for Ministry for the Environment he developed the air-shed economic impact assessment model to assess the effects of alternative pollution mitigation settings.
Greg has worked extensively in assessing and providing advice with respect to Development Contribution regimes. He has presented affidavits in the High Court, presented evidence in council hearings, before the EPA and in the Environment Court on development contribution, retail impact, growth and change matters.
Greg is a member of the RMLA and NZ Planning Institute, and lectures to under-graduate geography classes at the University of Auckland and economics classes at AUT.
021 896 537
09 915 5511
Lawrence McIlrath
MBA, BA et Sc (TRP)
Director
Lawrence has over 15 years' experience in the private and local government sectors. Lawrence enjoys the challenges of working in the applied economics field and has assisted numerous clients in understanding the forces affecting their businesses and the markets within which they compete. He has a keen interest in understanding the aspects that affect performance.
Lawrence has a wide skill set covering economic costs and benefits, spatial analysis, growth and development theories as well as financial analysis. These skills have been applied in different contexts and assessments. Lawrence is accomplished in designing and developing complex models and to explain the results in simple terms. This capability is used in sector analyses and strategic assessments as well as cost, benefit and impact assessments.
Areas of Expertise: Spatial and Economic Modelling, Financial Modelling, Economic Impact Assessment (Input-Output, Computable General Equilibrium), Cost Benefit Analysis, Economic Growth Modelling, Local Government Funding, Business Cases, Strategic Advice
021 042 1957
09 915 5523
Susan Fairgray-McLean
MSc (Economic Geography)
Associate Director
Susan joined M.E Consulting from a senior position in Auckland Council’s Research, Information and Monitoring Unit (RIMU). Susan has over 11 years’ experience in urban economics at Auckland Council developing and supporting Councils positions across a range of areas. She authored the definitive study on Retailing in Auckland in support of the Auckland Unitary Plan (The Retail Evidence Base) which contributed to the groundwork for the shape of Auckland’s centre network.
Susan has special expertise in assessing land use and has developed robust and detailed methodologies for aligning residential capacity with demand that are being applied in high growth Councils across New Zealand.
Susan also specialises in retail assessments, providing advice for commercial and public sector clients on the most appropriate scale and location of retail as well as the effects retail location has on the existing retail network and future Urban Form.
Susan’s policy/project experience has covered major commercial, industrial and residential sectors, and key infrastructure. She also has experience in leading analysis, preparing and presenting evidence and expert conferencing, and in initiating core research.
09 915 5519
Tilly Erasmus
BBus (Finance & Economics)
Senior Consultant
Tilly joined the M.E team in the latter part of 2015. Since then, she has provided economic insights and analysis to a diverse range of clients across the public and private sectors. She has a keen interest in economic modelling, and the impact of policy on the local and wider community. Tilly has been instrumental in crafting strategies that enable clients to make informed decisions, optimize resources, and drive sustainable economic growth.
She brings strong research and analytical skills to the team, which enables her to conduct in-depth research, assess economic growth models, and conduct cost-benefit and social impact analyses for various projects. Her contributions to projects are integral in supporting clients' initiatives and ensuring their alignment with economic best practices.
Tilly is a current member of the Resource Management Law Association (RMLA), where she actively engages with professionals in the field of resource management and contributes to discussions on sustainable development, legal frameworks, and environmental stewardship. Her diverse professional experience and expertise in economic analysis makes her a valuable asset to the team.
09 915 5532
Tom Harris
MSc (Economics), BSc (Economics)
Senior Consultant
Tom joined Market Economics from the UK Civil Service in 2023 where he worked as an economist across a challenging portfolio of projects and sectors. During the Covid-19 pandemic he was the principal analyst in the Department for Education modelling the pandemic’s impacts on Children’s Social Care. His other roles included leading on graduate outcomes analysis, supporting high-profile national policy implementation and working closely with external academics and stakeholders.
Tom taught undergraduate macroeconomics at The University of Exeter and completed a part-time master’s alongside his work in the UK Civil Service. Using his access to novel administrative governmental datasets, he authored research into topics which included comparing the scarring effect on early-career earnings of graduating during the Covid-19 years with the Global Financial Crisis, and assessing whether prospective university students could be nudged into making better application choices.
As a proficient and interested coder, Tom has written a book on the R programming language and published open-source software packages to aid data analysis. He has expertise in econometrics, game theory, empirical industrial organisation, modelling and forecasting, and cost benefit analysis.
Maggie Hong
PhD (Economics)
Consultant
Maggie joined the M.E team in the end of 2023. She has over 15 years’ experience in the public and private sector in New Zealand. Most recently, she worked as a principal analyst in Waikato Council’s Growth and Analytics Team, providing economic advisory and analytical support to the Executive Leadership Team and elected members.
In the past few years, Maggie worked on numerous projects focusing on National policy statement on urban development (NPS-UD) monitoring, demographic analysis, business and residential land use analysis.
Maggie holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Canterbury. She has published her research in edited books and international peer-reviewed journals such as Applied Economics and Journal of Economic Surveys. Maggie is experienced with large databases and analytical software such as SQL, Power BI, QGIS, and Python. Her areas of expertise include econometrics, cost benefit analysis, geographic information systems, and spatial analysis.
Hannah Ashby
BSc (Geography), BCom (Economics)
Senior Analyst
Hannah joined M.E as an analyst in the later part of 2019 after completing her conjoint degree in Commerce and Science at the University of Auckland, majoring in geography and economics. Since joining M.E Hannah has been involved in a range of projects in the public and private sector. Hannah has a keen interest in housing and community projects.
Hannah’s expertise are in demographic analysis, geographic information systems, and spatial analysis.
09 915 5522
Kieran McLean
MPE, BMS (Economics & Finance), GradDip (Population Studies)
Senior Analyst
Kieran joined M.E in 2021, after completing a Master of Professional Economics at Victoria University of Wellington, having previously completed a Bachelor of Management Studies (Economics and Finance) and a Graduate Diploma (Population Studies) at the University of Waikato. Through his studies he has gained skills and experience through research in fields such as cost benefit analysis, housing, environmental economics and demography.
Kieran has particular interest in understanding and applying economic theory across issues relating to economic, environmental and social systems. To date, he has been part of projects such as housing market assessments, cost benefit analyses, and economic impact assessments.
09 915 5525
Katie Moore
BSc, PgDipSci (Geospatial Science)
Spatial Analyst
Katie joined M.E in late June 2022, after having completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Geospatial Science at AUT, and a Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland, majoring in Geography and Environmental Science.
Through her studies she developed skills in working with geographic information systems to undertake analysis and create models using geospatial software tools and Python. Katie provides a supporting role across the consulting team, assisting with geospatial methodology design and analysis for a range of projects.
Jude Behrens
Office Manager
As Office Manager since 2005, Jude is responsible for many of the operational and administrative functions including accounts receivable and payable and project databases. Jude also provides secretarial support to the directors and consultants working on client projects.
Hours of work: Monday - Thursday 9.30am - 3.30pm.
09 915 5510