Who we are

Who we are

The story of Fathom

The idea for a boutique macroeconomic consultancy was born in the 1990s at the Bank of England. Once just a pipe dream between friends, the original idea was to bring the analytical rigour of the Bank into the private sector, creating a consultancy with the brainpower to tackle complex and intractable problems, fiercely independent and free from the traditional and hierarchical culture of a central bank.

The vision for Fathom was to connect macroeconomics and financial markets. Within the Bank of England these branches almost never met, and when they did, they spoke different languages. The same division was true in industry; a separation that led to mistakes during the Global Financial Crisis. Fathom’s founders sought to create more rounded, useful economic insights by connecting macro and markets.

Since then, observing the powerful impact of political events on the world economy has led Fathom to specialise in a third element: geopolitics. We see the global economy, markets and geopolitics as inextricably linked, and we position ourselves at this three-way intersection, carefully balancing all three in the work we do.

The word ‘Fathom’ conveys depth, careful measurement, and understanding. Fathom’s mission has always been to seek the truth, to produce original analysis with innovative approaches to give our clients clarity on complex issues. Fathom has expanded and evolved over the past 20 years, but our core values have never wavered.

The history of Fathom

  • 2003

    Fathom Financial Consulting is officially registered as a company, with one employee – former Bank of England economist Danny Gabay

  • 2003

    Fathom wins its first clients, supplying independent research and presenting forecasts. Shamik Dhar, a former colleague of Danny’s at the Bank, joins him as director

  • 2004

    Andrew Clare from the Cass Business School (now Bayes Business School) joins in an advisory role

  • 2005

    Andrew Brigden is hired from the Bank of England – he later becomes Fathom’s Chief Economist

     

  • 2005 - key call

    UK housing

    Fathom warns of stretched UK housing valuations and describes a scenario in which UK interest rates will fall as low as 2%

  • 2007

    Fathom expands into bespoke consultancy work as Erik Britton joins as director

  • 2008 - key call

    The Global Financial Crisis

    Danny and Erik warn clients of the high risk of a banking crisis and global recession. Their view is unpopular – but in fact, the Global Financial Crisis has already begun

  • 2009 - key call

    The Monetary Policy Forum

    At Fathom’s first ‘Monetary Policy Forum’, designed to mirror the Bank of England’s MPC, Dr DeAnne Julius, Prof Willem Buiter, Dr Charles Goodhart and Dr Sushil Wadhwani call for central banks to undertake unconventional monetary easing; the policy is later adopted by all Western advanced economies to deal with the effects of the Global Financial Crisis

  • 2011

    Thomson Reuters (now LSEG) commissions Fathom to create the Chartbook, an extensive online library of macro and financial market charts

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The many faces of Fathom

Our team of economists has extensive expertise in areas including pensions, property, finance, politics, banking, economic modelling and climate economics.

Andrew Brigden

Chief Economist

Andrea Zazzarelli

Technical Director

Georgia McKenna

Deputy Chief Operating Officer

Andrew Harris

Deputy Chief Economist

Dimos Andronoudis

Senior Economist

Elisabeth Werenskiold

Senior Economist

Ingrid Grodås Standal Aas

Economist

Ellen Ó Fríl

Economist

Juan Orts

Economist

Ben Shepherd

Senior Advisor

Kris Takoor

Head of Data

Darek Subczynski

Data Architect

Anuja Wagh

Economic Data Analyst

Arushi Rawat

Economic Data Analyst

Sam Britton

Data Scientist

Kalon White

Data Visualisation Specialist

Alessandra Napoletani

Office Manager

Megan Marks

Assistant Office Manager

Craig Eaton

Business Development

Emma Britton

Website & Brand Manager

Leara Gabay

PR & Marketing

Jenny Booth

Editor

Jennie Russell

Deputy Editor

Ella Benson Easton

Assistant Editor

Want to know more about what we do?

Find out about working at Fathom