Simon has nearly 30 years’ experience in economic development, housing and regeneration, including 16 years with the Homes & Communities Agency, now Homes England. He is a nationally recognised HM Treasury Green Book specialist, a member of the Society of Professional Economists and the Royal Economic Society, and an elected board member of the Institute of Economic Development.
Simon specialises in the preparation and review of Green Book-compliant business cases and has advised on some of the UK’s largest and most complex regeneration programmes. He has contributed to an HM Treasury expert roundtable on the Green Book and acted as a consultee on subsequent updates. He is also regularly invited to contribute to iED and trade publications on appraisal, value for money and wider economic development issues.
Before joining AMION, Simon spent 16 years with English Partnerships and the Homes & Communities Agency, where he was a lead economist in Whitehall and managed a team of specialist economists. During this period, he helped develop several pieces of national economic appraisal guidance that have become established industry tools. These include the Employment Densities Guide, widely used to estimate the jobs capacity of development, and the Additionality Guide, which helps public bodies identify the net economic impact of government intervention. His work on additionality led to him presenting to an international academic audience at the World Bank in Paris.
Simon also initiated the Endowments Best Practice Note, now in its fourth edition, which underpins the approach to endowments for public assets that cannot readily be disposed of on the open market. He subsequently developed an endowment methodology to support the long-term stewardship of assets associated with the London Olympic legacy.
Simon has worked with a wide range of government departments and national public bodies, including HM Treasury, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Cabinet Office, Homes England, Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Outside Whitehall, he has extensive experience advising local authorities, combined authorities and development corporations across the UK.
Simon’s experience includes:
- Providing housing policy advice to the South Korean government
- Presenting at the World Bank in France on public sector additionality
- Advising a former Prime Minister’s household
- Acting as an official consultee on HM Treasury Green Book
- Serving as retained economic adviser to the West Midlands Combined Authority for more than four years
- Advising Ebbsfleet Development Corporation on business case and economic appraisal matters since 2018
- Supporting major New Town and new settlement proposals, including work in East Devon, Thamesmead and Plymouth
- Contributing regularly to iED and trade publications on economic development, appraisal and value for money
- Developing an endowment methodology for the London Olympic legacy
- Providing value for money assessments for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village
- Lecturing master’s students at Leeds Metropolitan University
- Developing a regeneration strategy for Longbridge in Birmingham
- Providing Towns Fund support in Burton, Dudley, Smethwick and Wolverhampton
- Preparing Future High Streets Fund business cases for Dudley, Great Yarmouth and Worcester
- Leading Levelling Up Fund bids in Broxtowe, Boston, Carlisle, Canterbury, East Lindsey, Pembrokeshire, Scarborough, South Holland, Swansea, Tamworth and York