I spent 20 years as a journalist...
Here's a few of the articles I wrote for print:
Captain Cad
Twenty of his staff approached me claiming not to have been paid for two months shortly after the firm's inception and Mr Hackney had gone underground. Over the coming weeks, more staff and creditors came forward with increasing debts they were owed. Tales of booking a £250,000 30th birthday party which had been cancelled despite booking pop stars to make a PA under a marquee.
Royal Doulton/Wedgwood
I covered the decline and fall of world-famous pottery firms Royal Doulton and Wedgwood throughout my time on The Sentinel’s business desk. These stories represent a small fraction of my coverage of two companies that once employed more than 7,000 people and were part of the fabric of Stoke-on-Trent’s manufacturing heritage.
John Caudwell
John Caudwell started out in Stoke-on-Trent as a lad who was picked on because he had ginger hair and whose first job was sweeping the floors of the Michelin factory in the city. He became a second-hand car dealer who dropped on the idea of trying to sell four brick-sized mobile phones.That took two days. His insight of what mobile phones might become was the seed of company that employed thousands, sparked new companies and left him with a £2 billion fortune when he eventually sold up. Steadfastly no-nonsense, he was also straight-talking and faced down criticism of sometimes tough decisions on the chin.
Off diary
My Off Diary column in Sentinel provided me an opportunity to take a sideways look at news affecting the region’s economy and often going out of normal topics. For instance, I was interested in the development of computer games and technology and the city’s small nascent companies. I remember interviewing the chief executive of online betting firm Bet365 when the business employed just 100 people. Now it has a workforce of thousands and made its founders fortunes worth tens of millions.