Amelia Fletcher (born 1 January 1966) is a British

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Music career

Fletcher has been the frontwoman of an evolving series of pop groups from the 1980s to the present. Her bands included

Talulah Gosh Talulah Gosh were an English guitar-pop group from Oxford, and one of the leading bands of the indiepop movement, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan. They supposedly formed in 1986 when Amelia Fletcher ...

, Heavenly,

Marine Research Marine Research were an indiepop group, based in Oxford/London (UK), formed in 1997 by four of the five members of Heavenly ( Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff, Cathy Rogers and Rob Pursey), following the death of Heavenly drummer Mathew ...

Tender Trap Tender Trap were an English indiepop/twee pop band based in London, England, formed in 2001 by three of the five members of Marine Research - Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey, and John Downfall. Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey were previously in ...

, and, since 2014, The Catenary Wires.The Catenary Wires

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, retrieved 2014-06-08 In 2020, she began a new band, Swansea Sound, with The Pooh Sticks's Hue Williams. She is associated with the

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation '' C86''. Twee pop gets its name from the aesthetic of twee, which is known for its simplicity and childlike innocence. Some of its defining features are boy-gi ...

scene. In 2025, she released an album of song-poems as The Catenary Wires with poet Brian Bilston. She also sang backing vocals for

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas. The band has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member. Closely linked to the C86 scene ...

early in their career and on the Hefner album '' We Love the City''. She toured with, and was guest vocalist for, The Pooh Sticks on their albums ''Orgasm'', ''Million Seller'' and '' The Great White Wonder'', and in 1988 released a single under her own name, "Can You Keep a Secret?" She has also appeared as a guest vocalist for

The 6ths The 6ths was a band created by Stephin Merritt, also the primary songwriter and instrumentalist behind The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. In the group, Merritt wrote and played songs which were then sung, in most ...

on the song "Looking for Love (In the Hall of Mirrors)", on “Monday Morning” by

The Candyskins The Candyskins were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Oxford, England. Though early members of the "Oxford Scene", they enjoyed limited commercial success compared to their contemporaries Radiohead and Supergrass. They were considered by ...

, on both

Bugbear A bugbear is a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the boogeyman (or bugaboo or babau or cucuy), and other creatures of folklore, all of which were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. Etymology ...

recordings, a single by The Hit Parade, and on the "Why Do You Have to Go Out With Him When You Could Go Out With Me?" single by The Brilliant Corners. From 1999 to 2003, she was keyboardist for Sportique. Amelia Fletcher was also an early promoter of Scottish group Bis who Heavenly performed alongside and whose lead singer, Manda Rin, repeatedly cited Amelia as one of her inspirations/influences. With husband and long-time musical collaborator, Rob Pursey, she co-founded independent label, Skep Wax Records.

Economics career

Fletcher read economics at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

. In 1993, she completed a D.Phil. in economics at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

titled 'Theories of Self-Regulation'. In 2001, she was appointed Chief Economist at the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...

and in 2008 took on the additional role of Senior Director of Mergers. She left in April 2013, to become Professor of Competition Policy at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. She has been a Non-Executive Director on the boards of the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom. It operates independently of the UK Government and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financi ...

(2013–2020), Payment Systems Regulator (2014–2020), and

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

(2016–2023). Fletcher was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2014 New Years Honours list for services to competition and consumer economics and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to the economy.

Personal life

Fletcher has two children with her husband Rob Pursey, also a member of Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research, Tender Trap, The Catenary Wires, and Swansea Sound. She is the daughter of Jean and Winston Fletcher.

References

External links

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=3956
– Interview, part 1
http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=3982
– Interview, part 2
http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=3999
– Interview, part 3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Amelia 1966 births Living people Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English economists British women economists English women guitarists English guitarists