CRAIG LAWRENCE, PRINCIPAL

Craig is the founder and principal of Lytton Advisory. He has over 27 years of experience across government and private sector projects, particularly in infrastructure, transport and tourism. His expertise includes over 100 separate economic, financial or commercial appraisals, which have included cost benefit (CBA) or cost effectiveness analyses. Craig has expertise in financial modelling using discounted cash flow techniques and commercial appraisal of project cash flows, as well as analysing competition policy issues.

He has worked across approval and regulatory processes for infrastructure projects and government funding, including business case frameworks. Craig collaborates with individuals and teams in a wide range of organisations. He has worked for or alongside more than fifty different organisations including international organisations, government agencies, statutory authorities, commercial businesses, education institutions, industry associations and not-for-profit organisations. Assignments have included analyses of projects in Australia, China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands.

Prior to establishing Lytton Advisory, Craig was Director – Infrastructure Policy at the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning where he led a team of policy and regulatory analysts and economists looking at infrastructure prioritisation and resource region supply chain optimisation. He was previously Director – Economic Policy within the Department.

Craig’s previous roles include as a senior consultant in several professional service firms and as an economic analyst in the Queensland and Federal Governments. His federal government experience includes extended periods in economic analyst and policy roles in the Treasury, Transport and Tourism portfolios during the 1990s.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics (ANU), a Master of Management Economics (UNSW) and a Master of Applied Finance (Finsia). He is a Fellow of Finsia, former Executive Director of the Economic Society of Australia (Qld) and member of the Australian Institute of Management, the Economic Society of Australia and the International Consulting Economists’ Association. (Testimonials)

BOB NOAKES, SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Bob is an experienced project/infrastructure economist and financial analyst with more than 40 years experience in Australia and in more than 30 countries in project planning and development studies. He has an extensive background in preparing economic impact assessments and feasibility studies for major projects, market research and user forecasting for project preparation, in supply chain least-cost analysis, in demand forecasting for industrial activity, in scenario planning to develop alternative potential ‘growth’ paths for Local/Regional/State governments, in multi-criteria analysis and ranking of site options, and in the preparation of Business Cases based on international best practice cost-benefit analysis techniques.  He has worked on a number of local/regional economic development studies involving Triple Bottom Line assessments and in identifying the socio-economic impacts of proposed infrastructure development projects.

Bob holds a PhD, Diploma of Education and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of New England.  He is a member of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) and is the principal of RR Noakes and Associates.

HAMISH BAIN, SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Hamish is a business economist and project manager with more than 40 years professional experience. For more than 30 years he has been heavily involved in business, finance, regional and rural development issues in Queensland.  Hamish was Chief Economist of the Queensland Industry Development Corporation for a decade, working with a broad spectrum of clients across the rural, business, tourism and construction sectors. He has an extensive background in forming, directing and managing multidisciplinary project teams comprising economists, agronomists, engineers, planners and financial economists.  Assignments have included National Competition Policy Reviews and the coordination of economic conferences and publications on economic growth and development, involving working closely with businesses and communities. He has over a considerable time, provided economic analysis and forecasts to clients at a national and international level. Hamish has served at various levels on government committees and held non-executive roles on private companies.

Hamish holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Master of Economics from the University of Queensland, as well as a Diploma in Agriculture from the University of Glasgow.  He is an Honorary Life Member and Past President of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland), a Companion of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an Honorary Trustee of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia. Hamish was a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 1994 to 2014.  He is the principal of Bain Business Management.