James Sproule was appointed as Chief Economist of Handelsbanken UK in 2020 where he has developed a trusted adviser relationship with a wide range of the banks clients, as well as being an integral part of the banks broader risk management team. For much of 2019 he was a Senior Business Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson; prior to this he worked in economic policy making with several think tanks and between 2014-2017 he was the Chief Economist and Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors. He started his financial career as a merchant bank economist with Bankers Trust, eventually going on to be a founding partner of the boutique bank Augusta and Company, before moving into strategic consultancy with Accenture and L.E.K.. James started his working life as a signals officer in the Royal Navy, where he remains an honorary Captain. James Sproule stood for Parliament at the 2005 general election; and was for seven years a visiting fellow in the Department of Management Economics at the London School of Economics.