ITEM club

'ITEM', in 'The EY ITEM Club', stands for Independent Treasury Economic Model. The EY ITEM Club is an economic forecasting group based in the United Kingdom. It produces quarterly economic UK forecasts, which are often mentioned in the UK news media. It was founded in 1977 and is sponsored by EY (Ernst & Young LLP), a leading firm of business and financial advisers with some 144,000 staff in 140 countries. ITEM is said to be independent of any political, academic or commercial bias despite corporate sponsorship. Its independence is underpinned by the untied sponsorship of EY. The club was officially named "The EY ITEM Club" in 2012.