Thursday, March 03, 2011

For Access Economics directors it'll be business as usual Monday...


With some change

Access Economics will be known as known as Deloitte Access Economics from Monday with the seven economists who own the business suitably enriched and owning paid partnerships in the consultancy group Deloitte.

"We've been approached several times by several larger firms over the years and commercially it was always screamingly obvious, we had skills they needed and they had scale we needed, Access director Chris Richardson told The Age.

"But without sounding toohigh-falutin about it we have always regarded ourselves as doing something more than just commercial. Literally an aim of Access Economics is building a better, prosperous and fairer Australia. Delloites have that aim too, they don't use the same words, they talk of innovation, empowering women and other things, but they have a similar agenda and used that phrase 'building a better Australia' today as part of describing the deal"...

Deloitte CEO Giam Swiegers said the firm was seeing a growing demand for expert knowledge and industry experience in economic consulting, modelling and forecasting.

"It is driven not only by the pace of regulatory change but also by the critical role that corporate knowledge and expertise is playing in addressing challenges that will help shape Australia’s future."

"Deloitte Access Economics will become Australia’s leading provider of economic advisory services and help shape key national policies."

Access brings 60 economists to Deloitte, a total Mr Richardson quipped is about one eightieth of Deloitte's staff in Australia. "Our first frontier will be within Deloitte itself, getting people there to understand what we think we can do. When we do that we will have a sales force of four or five thousand, although I am sure there is a nicer way to say that.

Founded by former Treasury officials in the late 1980s the Canberra firm has become known as the Treasury in exile for its understanding of government budgets and the work it used to do costing and developing policies for Labor and Coalition oppositions.

Asked whether the new owners would feel happy about him returning to such work, Mr Richardson said he hadn't asked and wasn't too keen on the idea. "It's not a fun job, everyone hates you," he said.

Published in today's SMH and Age

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