UK: OFT’s chief economist leaves to become antitrust professor

According to a press release, the current chief economist of the Office of Fair Trading Dr. Amelia Fletcher has announced she will leave the OFT and join the University of East Anglia as a Professor of Competition Policy. Dr. Fletcher has been with the OFT since 2011. The full press release can be read below.

GMT Friday January 18 2013

OFT’s Chief Economist to join University of East Anglia

Dr Amelia Fletcher, currently Chief Economist at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), is to join the University of East Anglia (UEA) as a Professor of Competition Policy, it was announced today.

Dr Fletcher will become a professor in the Norwich Business School and a member of UEA’s Centre for Competition Policy – a leading research centre, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which specialises in the study of competition policy and regulation.

She joined the OFT in 2001, having previously worked as an economic consultant for Frontier Economics and prior to that London Economics.

Prof Neil Ward, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at UEA, said: “We are delighted with the appointment of Amelia to this chair. As well as her outstanding intellect, she has an unparalleled track record as a senior policy-maker and practitioner in competition policy and considerable experience in commissioning and managing research.”

Dr Fletcher, who takes up her new position in April, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Chief Economist at the OFT and am immensely proud of its record of economic and policy excellence, as well as its achievements in making a difference for consumers.

“However, I feel ready for a new challenge and am honoured to be taking up this chair at UEA. The Centre for Competition Policy is a world-leading academic centre in competition policy and I look forward to working alongside colleagues to develop valuable new academic initiatives, as well as supporting the established work of the centre and building up my own research profile.”

Dr Fletcher was a prominent figure in British indie music in the 1980s. She was the lead singer and songwriter with cult band Talulah Gosh, and now records with her current band Tender Trap. Last month former band-mate Elizabeth Price won the Turner Prize, prompting Talulah Gosh to be described in the Guardian as “one of the most over-achieving indie bands in history”.

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