History 

Established by a group of practising economists in 1958, BERL initially provided quarterly forecasts and assessments of the New Zealand economic situation. From these early days, BERL has completed economic research for clients and has developed to now become the leading provider of a broad range of economic research, analysis, advice and consultancy for business and public sector clients.

The three founders of BERL in 1958 were Hew Walls (previously a staffer in the Reserve Bank), Norman Macbeth (soon to become editor of The Press) and Bryan Philpott (then an economist with the Meat and Wool Board’s Economic Service). Other contributors to early issues of BERL Forecasts included Len Bayliss, Professors Allan Catt, Conrad Blyth and David Sheppard.

The foundation was laid in 1970 for expansion of the professional consulting and research operation with the recruitment of Kel Sanderson, BERL’s first full-time professional economist. He was followed shortly after by a second, Paul Frater. Kel, now a prominent economist in New Zealand, remains at BERL – and is the Executive Director.

During the 1970s BERL expanded offshore, planning and implementing economic developments in Samoa, Tonga, Belize, Malaysia, Thailand and East Africa. From the broad, practical experience in New Zealand and offshore, BERL developed a reputation for not only providing robust but also practical advice. It is this combination of sound, sensible and realistic advice that has remained the foundation of BERL’s consultancy practice into the new millennium. The other value established early was absolute independence from government and other organisations. This independence is assiduously maintained for the benefit of clients.

In the early 1980s BERL’s attention turned to general equilibrium modelling within New Zealand. This form of modelling was first used by BERL staff to evaluate the impacts of tariff reform, manufacturing export expansion, tourism development, GST and transaction taxes.

These general equilibrium models have since been further developed. They now sit alongside BERL’s comprehensive regional and industry database to enable rigorous investigations into the effects of policy changes as well as exploring the projected economic and wider impacts of proposed projects or developments.

Recent years have also seen a revitalised focus on development issues - at national, regional and district level. This combines BERL’s past experiences in the development arena with experienced, practical advice along with robust model-based assessments of strategies, initiatives, projects, and plans.

Today, BERL remains a privately-owned company. Its staff collaborate with a network of consultants and specialist contributors to bring together the best range of expertise suitable for the various projects it tackles. The provision of sound, practical, independent business and economic advice continues to be the hallmark of BERL’s work.