Editor

Profile An Oxford graduate and former Journalist whose professional life has been spent writing, initially for newspapers, then in-house employers and finally for clients. This associate has run their own copywriting business since 1991, developing a niche in bid editing / writing, particularly in the Transport and Construction sectors. They are particularly skilled at editing long-winded, technical prose into crisp, engaging, grammatically correct English that gets across key messages positively, consistently and simply. Typically reduces word count by 15% after editing a first draft, not by slashing, but by careful rewording. Key Achievements Edited successful rail franchise bids for GNER (East Coast Main Line), FirstGroup (South Western) and Arriva (Northern). Bid Writer for the stakeholder delivery plan in the Northern bid, raising its score from 2 (marked internally) to 8 (marked by the Department for Transport), the highest score in the bid. Edited winning bids for McNicholas, a national Construction company, for a major Utilities contract in Northern Ireland and for appointment to several Network Rail frameworks. In 2018 edited Rail franchise bids for FirstGroup (West Coast Partnership) and Arriva (East Midlands) and a bus tender for Arriva (Stansted Airport). Results still to be announced. Edited a rail franchise bid for FirstGroup (East Anglia) and Balfour Beatty's bid to be appointed as Sellafield Ltd's partner in a 15-year Infrastructure Strategic Alliance in the Power industry. Experience Almost 30 years' experience in understanding clients' objectives and using their journalistic training to meet the tightest of deadlines. Has collaborated with the Plain English Campaign and run training courses for FirstGroup and the former Birse Civils in effective bid writing. Most assignments are repeat business and recommendations from satisfied clients.