Economic and socio-economic assessment
Clear assessment of benefits, costs, jobs, local effects, assumptions and uncertainty.
Data for better decisions
Data, economics and policy analysis for public-sector decisions
Squillions helps government agencies, councils and not-for-profits turn difficult data into checked tables, forecasts, data tools, reports and advice.
Led by Nigel Pinkerton, Squillions works on economic assessment, official-data checks, forecasting, scenario testing, dashboards and policy evidence. The work is useful where the numbers are messy, the assumptions matter, and the result needs to be explained clearly.
Economic analysis
Official data
Modelling
Scenario testing
Plain-English reports
Services
What Squillions does
Most projects start with a practical question: what does the data show, what should we trust, and how should the answer be explained?
Official-data analysis
Finding, cleaning and explaining data from government datasets, council material and administrative records.
Forecasting and scenario testing
Models that show several possible results under different assumptions.
Data tools and dashboards
Web-based tools that help clients explore data, compare places and brief decision-makers.
Policy evidence reviews
Turning policy questions into data needs, evidence checks and practical advice.
Model checking and assumptions review
Testing whether numbers, assumptions and methods are clear enough to rely on.
Where Squillions is useful
Some projects need judgement as much as computation
The source data may exist, but the question can still be unclear. The assumptions may be hidden. The result may be too technical for the people who need to use it.
Messy data
The source data needs cleaning, checking and careful interpretation.
Important assumptions
The answer changes when the assumptions change, so the assumptions need to be visible.
Hard policy questions
The client needs evidence that helps a decision, not a report that only describes the issue.
Technical work for non-technical readers
The analysis needs to be accurate and clear enough to use.
About Squillions
Senior-led analysis, clear reporting
Squillions Ltd is a New Zealand data, economics and policy analysis business led by Nigel Pinkerton.
The work usually sits between analysis and decision-making. Squillions helps clients assemble sources, test the important assumptions, build the calculations or tool, and explain what the results mean.
The work can involve public datasets, custom extracts, geographic evidence, dashboards, modelling assumptions and report-ready tables. Squillions keeps those inputs traceable so the final advice is easier to test and explain.
Nigel leads the work directly. The same person who designs the analysis is responsible for the modelling logic, assumptions, interpretation and reporting.
Some projects need specialist input, such as survey fieldwork, legal advice, engineering, planning or subject-matter review. Squillions adds that input when the project needs it, while keeping the data, economics and reporting clear.
Selected work
Projects where data and judgement meet
Some client work is public. Some is confidential. These examples show the kind of work Squillions can discuss in general terms.
Inland Revenue High-Wealth Individuals Research Project
Nigel spent more than 18 months on the project, spanning data extraction, verification, economic modelling, calculation work and report writing.
Council economic monitoring systems
Nigel developed council economic monitoring systems in New Zealand.
Te Puke and surrounding areas
Data science and economic assessment work for a local growth and planning context.
Council growth projections
Economic state-of-play reporting and economic and demographic growth assumptions for council planning.
Public-sector monitoring data needs
Work to turn monitoring and policy questions into practical data needs.
Hello Cashflow
Co-founder, CTO and advisory work for a fintech product that helps business owners understand cashflow. In 2026, Hello Cashflow joined Creative HQ's Fintech Lab and was recognised as Judges Choice at the Kiwibank Start Up Pitch Breakfast.
Further details are available where client permissions allow.
Contact
Talk to Squillions
For data, economics, modelling or policy analysis work, contact Nigel Pinkerton.
Please do not send sensitive data until we have agreed how it should be handled.