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Will Rossiter

William Rossiter

Associate Professor

Nottingham Business School

Staff Group(s)
Department of Economics Nottingham Civic Exchange

Role

Will manages the Economic Strategy Research Bureau at Nottingham Business School. The team offers a range of economic research, evaluation and strategic consultancy services to public, private and third sector clients. They combine proven practitioner experience with academic expertise - drawing on the full range of subject specialisms available across NTU and making this capability accessible to a wide range of clients in the public, private and third sectors.

Will's research interests relate to local and regional economic development, the policy process, economic and institutional path dependence. He teaches on a number of economics modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The main focus of his teaching is economic evaluation and regional policy where he provides a practitioner's perspective on the application of economics to policy and practice.

Will also contributes to the delivery of Institute of Economic Development CPD Approved short courses relating to economic evaluation and economic development.

Career overview

Prior to joining NTU in 2011 Will had spent 15 years working in a variety of Economic Development roles within the East Midlands. As Head of Strategy and Research at the East Midlands Development Agency will led EMDA's Strategy, Research and Evaluation Team. Principal responsibilities included provision of corporate strategy and intelligence functions included the development and monitoring of the Regional Economic Strategy and its underpinning evidence base; leading the design and delivery of EMDA's programme of impact evaluation; and provision of expert public policy support and monitoring Parliamentary affairs.

Research areas

Will's research interests relate to regional and local economic development, economic evaluation, public policy and governance.

Recent research projects have included research on the local economic impacts of extending the Nottingham Tram, the emergence of a bioscience cluster in Nottingham, bio-science business incubators in the UK, local and regional economic path creation.

Will welcomes research proposals from students interested in undertaking projects addressing aspects of local and regional economic development, regional policy in the UK, economic development and regeneration in the East Midlands, and the Derby rail cluster.

The NTU Doctoral School website has more information on doctoral research opportunities at NBS.

External activity

  • Fellow of the Regional Studies Association
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Member and of the Institute for Economic Development

Sponsors and collaborators

  • Currently collaborating with Professor Markku Sotarauta (University of Tampere, Finland) and Professor David Smith (NTU) in a comparative study of actors and institutions in local economic development.
  • Member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Nottingham Centre for Children, Young People and Families.
  • Worked with the Nottingham Civic Exchange and the Royal Society of Arts to advise the D2N2 LEP on inclusive growth metrics and related investment criteria (2017).
  • Have undertaken strategic consultancy work for Oxford Innovation (2015).
  • Member of the Midlands Engine Economic Planning Group.
  • Worked with the Nottingham Post on the ‘Great Nottingham Debate’ (2015).
  • Participated in the New Economics Foundation’s Good Jobs Taskforce (2013).

Press expertise

economic aspects of spatial planning / development

employment and skills policy

economic and business policy

economic and labour market issues

economic development and regeneration

economic wellbeing and sustainability