About EKOS Consultants

Our History

Established in 1993, EKOS is a leading independent consultancy practice specialising in economic and social research. With decades of experience, we have established a strong reputation for delivering insightful analysis, strategic guidance, and evidence-based solutions that drive meaningful change.

We work with a wide range of organisations across the private, public, and community/third sectors, supporting them with a variety of tasks to ensure they have the knowledge and tools needed to make informed decisions. Our work spans everything from evaluation and impact assessment to strategic planning and research, as well as consultation analysis.

EKOS has a team of 12 professionals with a variety of backgrounds, from social science, public policy, economics, and other related disciplines. Our staff bring strong technical expertise, and analytical rigour to every project, working collaboratively to support the development of assessment, policies, programmes, and initiatives that provide clear, evidence-based value for our clients.

Who we work with

At EKOS, we collaborate with a multitude of clients across the UK, delivering expert consultancy services tailored to their unique needs. Our extensive experience includes working with national and local government, supporting regional development and strategic initiatives as well as private sector organisations. In addition to our public sector partnerships, we have established strong working relationships with leading academic institutions and national skills agencies, contributing to research projects and policy development, including place-based and sector strategies.

Meet our team

Our multidisciplinary team brings diverse skills, experience and knowledge from different backgrounds, including: academia, economic development, public, private and third sector.

Brian McLaren

Managing Director

Chris Kelly

Director

Nicola Graham

Principal Consultant

Alison Cairns

Principal Consultant

Mick McCart

Senior Consultant

Connor Bryant

Senior Consultant

Innes Armstrong

Senior Consultant

Michael Dunn

Consultant

Gemma Donnelly

Consultant

Alessia Biris

Research Consultant

Joe Robinson

Research Consultant

Dianne O’Brien

Office Manager

Get in touch with our experts

Brian McLaren

Managing Director

BA (Hons) Psychology, MSc Research Methods

Brian is Managing Director of EKOS, responsible for the ongoing development of the practice. He began his career in academic research before moving into public policy and research roles in culture and economic development and then into private consultancy. His research interests focus on creativity, innovation and public service development, and he has particular expertise in creative and digital industries, higher education, arts and culture, sport and leisure and innovation policy and practice.

Brian has high level skills in the design and delivery of a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including financial and economic appraisal and impact assessment.

He advises clients across the UK including national and local government, development agencies, broadcasters and universities. Outside of work he has held various Board positions with leading arts organisations in Scotland.

brian.mclaren@ekos.co.uk
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Chris Kelly

Director

BA Politics, BA Politics and Human Resource Management, Pg Dip (Distinction) Local Economic Development

Chris is an experienced economic development professional with 20 years in consultancy. He specialises in project and programme appraisal, evaluation, and impact assessment, with deep knowledge of HM Treasury’s Green Book and Magenta Book.

A recognised expert in economic modelling and social cost-benefit analysis, Chris applies his expertise across a wide range of thematic and sectoral areas, including innovation, infrastructure and place, business development, and Growth Deals. He leads our economic evaluation and Business Case development, with a focus on the HM Treasury “Five Case Model”.

Chris is an Affiliate of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and serves as Vice Chair of the Economic Development Association of Scotland (EDAS).

chris.kelly@ekos.co.uk
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Nicola Graham

Principal Consultant

BA (Hons) Economics and Marketing

Nicola brings 25+ years of experience in economic development, grounded in senior policy, monitoring, and evaluation roles in the public sector in Scotland (social inclusion and community planning) and England (place-based regeneration). Since joining EKOS in 2010, she has worked across the company’s portfolios with thematic expertise spanning enterprise support, skills and employability, innovation, rural development, and sport and leisure. 

Her work covers the full spectrum of research, evaluation, feasibility studies, options appraisal, and business planning. Nicola also leads EKOS’ quantitative and qualitative public consultation analysis portfolio, delivering robust, high-quality analysis for a wide range of clients, including the Scottish Government.

nicola.graham@ekos.co.uk
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Alison Cairns

Principal Consultant

MA (Hons) Politics and International Relations

Alison is a highly experienced social researcher with over 20 years’ experience in public policy and economic development at the Scottish, UK, and European levels. She has delivered research and evaluation for a wide range of clients, including the Scottish Government, local authorities, and third sector organisations across the UK.

Her expertise covers a broad range of public policy areas, including the rural economy, skills, and the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Prior to joining EKOS, Alison held senior roles in both government and the third sector, with a focus on skills planning, evidence and impact, and rural economic development. She also has a strong background in EU regional and interregional committees, European funding programmes, and civil society networks and engagement.

alison.cairns​@ekos.co.uk
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Mick McCart

Senior Consultant

MA (1st Class Hons) Politics and Economics

Mick is a professional economic consultant of thirteen years’ experience with particular expertise in economic impact assessment/ appraisal and economic modelling in the context of appraising physical developments, assessing the economic impacts of sporting and cultural events and assessing the impact of skills and innovation programmes for a variety of private and public sector clients.

He has wide experience in delivering Green Book Compliant business cases for a variety of infrastructure projects, most notable through the City Deal programme. He specialises in developing economic models to inform the economic case, but also develops business cases in their entirety in partnership with clients.

mick.mccart@ekos.co.uk
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Connor Bryant

Senior Consultant

MSc Economics and Econometrics, MSc Economics

Connor is a professional economist with experience spanning academia and private consulting. Prior to joining EKOS, Connor worked in academia where his research focused on econometric modelling across diverse topics including economic inequality and tourism. He is skilled both in quantitative and qualitative analysis and in working with large volumes of data across a variety of sources.

At EKOS, Connor brings creativity and technical rigour to deliver high quality cost-benefit analyses, economic impact assessments, programme evaluation and businesses cases to a wide range of clients. He has significant sectoral and thematic experience and expertise in tourism, education, culture and leisure, high value manufacturing, innovation and physical regeneration.

connor.bryant@ekos.co.uk
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Innes Armstrong

Senior Consultant

MSc Applied Economics, BA (Hons) International Business with Economics

Innes joined EKOS in October 2022 as a Consultant, following 2 and a half years working in London with an environmental economics consultancy. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Consultant in May of 2025.

As a Senior Consultant, Innes works across all of EKOS’ sectors, project managing and supporting on a variety of different projects, including Economic Impact Assessments, HM Treasury compliant Green Book Business Cases and Evaluations (amongst others).  He has strong experience engaging with stakeholders, facilitating and analysing stakeholder feedback, and providing technical support on survey design and analysis, policy reviews, and the development of economic baselines.

He has experience operating across a multitude of sectors including renewable energy, construction, sport and leisure, and the creative sector, supporting a variety of clients from the public, private and third sectors.

innes.armstrong@ekos.co.uk
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Michael Dunn

Consultant

BSc (Hons) Geography, University of Glasgow

With experience in both the public and private sector, Michael joined EKOS in 2018. As a consultant, he works across all of EKOS’ sectors providing a range of valuable research support such as: socio-economic baselines, survey design and analysis, policy and strategy reviews, financial and performance data analysis, stakeholder consultations and place audits. With a focus on data visualisation, Michael has extensive experience in collating, manipulating and analysing data from a wide range of socio-economic datasets including: NOMIS, NRS, SIMD and Scottish Government statistics and leads EKOS’s survey design and analysis work.

Michael also leads EKOS’s portfolio of Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) Your Town Audits which measures and monitors the relative performance of Scotland’s towns and town centres. The audit report includes an assessment of the physical and social assets of a place to produce actionable recommendations for improvement of town centres.

michael.dunn@ekos.co.uk
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Gemma Donnelly

Consultant

MSc Public Policy, BA (Hons) Politics and International Relations and Social Policy

Gemma joined EKOS in 2022, following completion of her post-graduate studies in public policy. She brings a strong understanding of local, regional and national policy landscapes. Gemma has analysed policies throughout their life cycle, from initial plans to the implementation and review stages.

As a consultant, Gemma has experience across EKOS’ portfolios, providing a range of research support to colleagues and clients including policy and strategic reviews, survey design and analysis (including the use of online software tool, SNAP), and qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Further, she has experience in socio-economic analyses, drawing out key intelligence using a variety of data sources such as: NOMIS, ONS and Scottish Government statistics.

gemma.donnelly@ekos.co.uk
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Alessia Biris

Research Consultant

MSc Data Analytics for Economics & Finance, BA (Hons) Business Studies and Economics

Alessia joined EKOS in November 2025 following completion of her postgraduate studies.

As a Research Consultant, Alessia works across EKOS’ portfolios, providing research support to colleagues and clients including policy and strategic reviews, survey design and analysis, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis. She also has experience in supporting economic impact assessments and market research.

From her university experience, Alessia brings strong data analytics skills with a particular interest in the use of AI tools and data-driven approaches to support research and analysis.

alessia.biris@ekos.co.uk
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Joe Robinson

Research Consultant

MSc Public Policy, MA Economic History

With experience in the civil service and a master’s degree in public policy, Joe joined EKOS in November 2025 as a research consultant.

Joe has experience across EKOS’ portfolios and provides a range of research support to colleagues and clients, including policy and strategic reviews, survey design and analysis, and support for outline business cases. He also has experience in carrying out literature reviews, as well as collating and analysing data from a variety of datasets. This includes socioeconomic analyses using data sources such as: NOMIS, ONS and Scottish Government statistics.

From his university experience, Joe brings a good understanding of public policy development and implementation, with a particular interest in place-based approaches and skills.

joe.robinson@ekos.co.uk
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Dianne O’Brien

Office Manager

Dianne is the Office Manager and joined EKOS in 2019 having previously worked in accounting and administration roles across a range of business sectors including: finance, data management, IT and sport.

Dianne is a qualified bookkeeper providing financial and administrative management support to the EKOS team.

dianne.obrien@ekos.co.uk

John Kelly

Director Emeritus​

EKOS Consultants operates across a diverse range of sectors, partnering with clients of all sizes—from national government bodies to grassroots community organizations. Our expertise spans multiple industries, enabling us to deliver tailored solutions that drive growth and innovation.

We regularly collaborate with key players in space development, the creative economy, sports and leisure, skills and education, as well as business and innovation. Whether supporting large-scale policy initiatives or working on targeted local projects, we are committed to fostering sustainable development and long-term success across these dynamic fields.

john.kelly@ekos.co.uk
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