CV

Conference speaker. Physics graduate, journalist, occasional broadcaster. Board member, The Housing Forum; editorial board, Journal of Consumer Behaviour; professor of forecasting and innovation, De Montfort University, Leicester.

A St Pauls School scholar, James went to Sussex University, where he studied under Chris Freeman and Keith Pavitt at the Science Policy Research Unit. His first job was technology editor, then editor of Design magazine, a glossy colour monthly.

A few years later, James became head of research at the international designers Fitch, before leading consultancy in IT at the Henley Centre, part of the WPP Group. At Henley he also advised major UK cities – London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester – on international competitiveness. He then went on to manage worldwide market intelligence for Philips consumer electronics in the Netherlands, and to work as a director of the product designers Seymour Powell. He went independent in 2001.

James helps clients to master new trends of all sorts, the better to develop and see through major innovations.

Article on chemical weapons for The Economist, 1978; editor Einstein: the first hundred years (Pergamon, 1980); co-author, Robots (Boilerhouse Project, 1984). The future of cities, report for Glasgow Development Agency, and Teleshopping, a multi-client study on e-commerce, both for Fitch, 1988. Proposed internet TV, 1993; Atticus Award, WPP, 1994. Books: Why is construction so backward? (John Wiley, 2004); Energise! A future for energy innovation (Beautiful Books, 2009); Big Potatoes: the London Manifesto for Innovation (Cadmium Five, 2010).