If you haven't yet, please meet Matthew, our Senior Economist. Since starting at FarrPoint he added to company's economic analysis capabilities and has been invaluable to so many projects. You can always count on Matthew for some top-quality sarcastic banter. Matthew would also win FarrPoint’s smartest dressed award as he's usually rocking a suit to the office.
The next "Meet a FarrPointer" feature is FarrPoint Economist (this will open in a new window)Matthew. He caught up with FarrPoint's Anna Fearon in the office to answer his interview questions.
Matthew Izatt-Lowry - Senior Economist
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1. You are an Economist, so how did you end up working at a Connectivity Consultants?
Andrew contacted me out of the blue on LinkedIn, and now here I am. I had always wanted to go into consultancy after university but in a more general sense. I ended up working for the government mainly because they would take me, but you don’t need to put that in (Anna did). Getting into one of the bigger consultancies as an economist can be challenging, so when Andrew got in touch and described the role, it seemed like a great opportunity to get my foot in the door. I wouldn’t say my heart was always set on Digital Connectivity. I didn’t know much about it, but the opportunity came and seemed like a really good one… and it was!
2. There is a fire at home! You can grab three things, not including family. What are you taking?
Is this not including pets too? (yes) Ok. I would probably leave everything. I don’t have anything really that sentimental, and things like photos are all on my phone. I would grab a fire extinguisher, and then I would be able to put out the fire.
3. What do you most enjoy about working at FarrPoint?
The people are really friendly, and the work is interesting and varied. There is also a great work-life balance.
4. What does a typical weekend look like for Matthew?
Walk the dog, go into town, see friends or have friends round for dinner or a BBQ. (Anna questions and some parenting?) That just happens all the time now. We don’t do too many child activities at the weekend as Lily is still quite young and they are always so busy at weekends, also my wife does a lot of that during the week. So, I guess at the moment what we do are more child-friendly things rather than activities designed for children. We tend to stay local to Edinburgh, as it is a bit of a faff going places with Lily and the dog, but we are off to London next week, which I am excited about. We will catch up with some friends and show Lily the sites of London.
5. What is your favourite place in the world and why?
Home is where the heart is… don’t write that! (again, Anna did!) Home wouldn’t be my favourite place, it would be somewhere skiing in the Alps, but home is a good second. I have been skiing since I was ten and my favourite ski resort is Les 3 Vallées. I have been on many great family holidays there and look forward to teaching Lily to ski. Victoria is less keen about me taking Lily onto the slopes, but I think it is better to start them young, so we have compromised that I can take her next year when she is two.
Matthew on a ski holiday in the Alps.
6. What is an interesting fact about you that not many people would know?
I’m a qualified ski instructor.
7. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
Spend it and travel the world. I would go and live somewhere nice in Italy, go skiing more and travel the world. I want to travel more of South America and South East Asia. I haven’t been to Africa much either, so I would like to go there and go on Safari. But, mainly, I would get away from here. (Anna questions, do you mean the UK?) I mean, I do love the UK, but I would rather live somewhere hot.
Matthew at (this will open in a new window)Machu Picchu in Peru.
Matthew at (this will open in a new window)Khao Phing Kan in Thailand.
8. What would you say is the word you use the most?
“hmmmm”, or maybe just “ok”. I can’t think of any exciting words I say. Maybe “sure, go for it”,… which is interesting because it goes against my pessimistic outlook on life, more of a “Every silver lining has a cloud” view.
9. What is the best decision you have ever made?
I’d probably go with moving to Edinburgh because that is where I met Victoria. I thought I would only be here for 18 months after a stint working at the (this will open in a new window)Scottish Government, after which I was planning on moving to London, but I am still here nine years later. (How did you meet Victoria?) Through the wonders of online dating, thanks to the wonders of digital connectivity.
10. Who would you like to nominate for the next “Meet a FarrPointer”?
Jordi.
We are always interested in speaking with good people who would like to pursue a career at FarrPoint, visit our careers page or drop us an email with your CV to [email protected].
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