Trade economist Rebecca Harding has launched a boutique consulting firm for the trade finance industry, following the sale of Coriolis Technologies, the trade data and analytics company she founded in 2017.

London-based Rebeccanomics aims to bring economics and trade to life through actionable research and insight, and offers advisory services to banks, fintech companies and industry associations.

The firm’s main areas of focus include sustainability, supply chain strategy, geoeconomics and geopolitics. The work will be centred around the expertise accumulated by Harding throughout her career, including as the founder and CEO of Coriolis Technologies – which was acquired by TradeSun at the end of last year, two other data-based technology businesses, Deloitte, the British Bankers’ Association (now UK Finance), and as a senior fellow at London Business School.

Most recently, Harding supported Santander in the initial stages of its Trade Barometer and wrote the business case for legal reform to enable digital trade in the UK, G7 and the Commonwealth for the International Chamber of Commerce and the Commonwealth Secretariat. She has also advised the United Nations Development programme on assessing Africa’s intra-regional trade, and worked with the Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament to measure sustainability in trade.

“Rebeccanomics is me giving back to the sector the understanding and the insight that I’ve received from it over the years,” Harding tells GTR. “Making sense of the chaos that is the world in 2023 is more important than ever.”

“Whether it’s improving environmental, social and governance performance, closing the trade finance gap, or boosting supply chain resilience, trade does not have a data problem; the issue is that it’s very difficult to channel all of that data intelligently into good decision making,” she adds. “The aim with Rebeccanomics is to help shape the industry’s thinking through independent, non-partisan expertise, enabling banks and fintechs to make use of their data, as well as playing a convening role in bringing stakeholders together.”