Dr Ken MacTaggart

Ken MacTaggart has more than 25 years experience in regional economic development, fragile economies, livelihoods and private sector development work. He has worked as a public agency economist and strategy director in the UK, and as a private sector consultant, business analyst and writer in the developing world. He specialises in regional economic development in fragile and conflict-affected areas, strategy, planning, measurement and evaluation, and rural and sectoral development.

He has senior management experience in both private and public sectors. In the public sector he was Chief Economist, then Strategy and Community Development Director at one of the world's longest-established regional development agencies, Highlands & Islands Enterprise (formerly the Highlands & Islands Development Board). In the private sector, he has been a director of several SMEs (Ltd companies and LLPs), including development consultancies, the Highlands & Islands Mobile Cinema, an educational services company, a publishing company, IT companies and a renewable energy company.

Ken has worked as an economic development consultant for the past 20 years, primarily for public sector clients and often in conflict-affected states in the developing world. His work has covered the design of economic recovery and livelihoods programmes, economic analysis of industry sectors and regions, evaluation of projects, design and implementations of assistance programmes, and strategy formulation.
His clients have included DFID, USAID, the EU, The Scottish Government, Mercy Corps, Scottish Enterprise, BIS/BERR, local authorities, European Funding bodies, and Universities.

He has also worked on public-private sector liaison for private companies including BT Scotland, WS Atkins, Robert McAlpine and Carillion.

He is a deployable expert with the UK Stabilisation Unit, has SC security clearance and has current HEAT training.

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