• Effective communicator – At Olympus I managed internal communications across two sites, with around 30% of the workforce field based. 90% of staff said their magazine was relevant to them.

• Resourceful manager – I am used to juggling multiple projects and managing staff. I devised and implemented my own three stage selection process for appointing a magazine publishing agency. 

• Adaptable – I am a self-starter with a flexible can-do approach. I have written magazine features, press releases, social media and web texts, and organised corporate events.

• Diplomatic – I appreciate the importance of tact and diplomacy when contacting stakeholders.  

• Eye for detail – I am experienced in proofreading and copy-editing, including checking that the tone of voice and message are consistent with the company line.

• Computer skills – Microsoft Office; Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023; SharePoint; digital photography. I also built my own websites using Microsoft and Google online content management systems.

Achievements

• The weekly e-newsletter I edited at Goldsmiths was regularly read by 43% of academics and 58% of support staff, and showed an annual increase of 38% in total clicks per issue (from 2018 to 2019)

• Member of the team responsible for communicating with staff throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, updating colleagues on changing government legislation and offering health and safety guidance.

Responsibilities

• Managed a Communications Assistant.

• Edited the weekly staff e-newsletter, including creating the email template using an online marketing tool.  

• Wrote stories that reported on corporate initiatives, academic research and university events for the intranet and e-newsletter, many of which were also published on Goldsmiths website.

• Responsible for managing the staff intranet, providing editorial leadership and producing much of the site’s content. Training colleagues to edit departmental content, and writing a guide to editing the site.

• Responsible for writing and sending all-staff emails, and emails targeting specific audiences, on behalf of the Senior Management Team (SMT), Human Resources (HR) and other department heads. 

• Worked with HR on improving engagement with wellbeing programmes and annual staff conferences.

• Worked with SMT to provide communications support for change programmes.

• Acted as a communications consultant, supporting departments with shaping and executing their communication activities to target specific internal audiences. 

I originally joined the Corporate Communications Department to cover someone on maternity leave but was subsequently offered a fulltime, permanent role.

Achievements

• Edited a fortnightly e-bulletin, regularly read by two thirds of fulltime, permanent employees. 

• Produced a series of well received posters that reminded students of how they benefit from meeting important and influential visitors at the university. 

Responsibilities

• Generated content appropriate for a range of communication channels and audiences through research, interviews, writing copy, taking photographs and sourcing images.

• Responsible for maintaining news pages on the staff intranet, including writing and uploading content using SharePoint.

• Fortnightly staff e-bulletin – I was responsible for canvassing faculties and departments for news, writing copy, sourcing illustrations and creating the e-bulletin using an online marketing tool.

• Shared content with the web team and student communications officer and, where appropriate, faculty communications managers for their local use.

• Adapted content, where appropriate, for the student intranet, the university’s website and social media channels.

• Supported the production and distribution of the university’s corporate magazine KINGSTON by researching and writing material and sourcing images.

After leaving fulltime employment at Olympus UK I became a self-employed freelance writer. My projects included:

• Olympus UK: I continued to edit Olympus’s employee magazine on a freelance basis.

• Olympus Europa Holding GmbH: Olympus’s European head office. I edited the content of the European employee magazine and a training programme, wrote news releases and brochure copy.

• AECOM: Global architecture and engineering consultancy. I wrote promotional copy and intranet texts.

• Archant Dialogue: Contract and customer publishing agency. I was the Consultant Editor for Olympus’s customer magazine, then published by Archant. My duties included agreeing content and writing magazine features, as well as  working with the editorial team to devise membership offers.

• Kids Company: London based children’s charity. I edited a regular PDF e-newsletter sent to volunteers. This included writing features and interviews, and liaising with designers.

UK importer and distributor of Olympus branded consumer electronics, medical and microscopy equipment.

Achievements

• Given responsibility for Olympus’s customer magazine as well as its internal communications.

• Successfully re-launched the customer magazine. In a subsequent survey, 95% of readers said the magazine was Very or Quite Interesting and 78% said the level of technical writing was Just right.

• Reduced the annual cost of the staff magazine by approximately 60% by redesigning its format and adjusting the frequency of its publication.

• Subsequent analysis showed 90% of employees felt their magazine to be relevant to them, 79% regularly read it, and 84% took it home to share with their family.

Responsibilities

• Managed three employees: a magazine editor, the receptionist, and the switchboard operator.

• Worked closely with the UK Board of Directors and HR to develop the internal communications strategy.

• Managed internal communications across two sites, with around 30% of employees field based.

• Used a combination of print, online, informal meetings and large-scale conferences to communicate with employees during a time of great structural change.

• Edited and wrote the content of the employee magazine, soliciting contributions from colleagues.

• Wrote corporate announcements and speeches on behalf of directors and senior managers.

• Wrote email bulletins and intranet features to report time-critical news stories.

• Acted as the UK point of contact for global internal communications, exchanging news stories with colleagues in Hamburg and Tokyo.

• Managed Olympus’s relationships with its customer magazine publisher and the company that managed the magazine’s subscriber database.

• Edited and wrote features for Olympus’s customer magazine, as well as trade newsletters sent to camera shops and professional digital dictation dealers.

• Managed Olympus’s relationships with key business partners, including the RSPCA, D&AD, V&A, and top professional photographers, working with them on photography exhibitions and joint branded events.

Responsibilities

• Established the employee magazine as the cornerstone of staff culture. Wrote and edited its content.

• Wrote email bulletins and intranet features to report time-critical news stories.

• Lead teams responsible for organising staff conferences. Wrote conference communications including MD’s speeches, literature, presentations and filmed segments.

• Worked closely with MDs, Directors and the HR team to set internal communications strategy.

• Wrote and edited a seasonal trade newsletter sent to camera shops in the UK and Ireland.

• 11 – 16 April 2022 – Writing a Novel residential course, The Arvon Foundation

• May 2016 – Introduction to Trans Awareness, Gendered Intelligence

• March 2015 – Coping with change, Progress International

• October 2014 – Communications Planning, Institute of Internal Communication

• February 2010 – Critical Workshop, Creative Writing Course, Maggie Hamand and Natalie Butlin

• November 2008 – Original Creative Writing Course, Maggie Hamand and Shaun Levin

• June 2006 – Finance for non-financial Managers, Hawksmere / Croner Training 

• October 2002 – Introduction to Management, Leadership Development Ltd. 

• March 2001 – Internal Communications, Popular Communications Courses Ltd.

• March 2001 – Intranets in Internal Communications, Popular Communications Courses Ltd.

• Exeter College of Art & Design – BA (Hons) 2.1: Graphic Design

• Hreod Burna School, Swindon – A Levels: Pure Mathematics (B), Arts & Crafts (E), Physics (C); O Levels: Mathematics (A), Physics (B), Art (C), English Language (C), Chemistry (B)