Heritage, history and brand storytelling

History and heritage are amongst my main interests. I have written a good deal of copy for universities, quangos, charity and business that relates to heritage and history or tells the story of a brand.

Brand histories sound simple, but they can reveal so many new ways of looking at a business and the way it promotes its aims or products. Looking back always helps a brand to be forward-looking.

Over the years, I have worked extensively with organisations such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council, where my copy is the most-read on their website. I also helped them to get their work noticed outside of academia, in exhibitions and publications around the world. This kind of feature-writing is a skill that many copywriters simply do not possess, and it engages in a very different way.

I have looked into history of the creative arts for the likes of the Guardian, appeared on Radio 4 to talk artistic history and been commissioned by Transport for London and Channel 4 to write about aspects of their history. I have also written for the BBC in relation to their history programming and been commissioned by the likes of Nesta and the Economic and Social Research Council to explain heritage projects.

I have delved into entertainment and cultural history for the likes of the Daily Telegraph, as well as ghost-writing newspaper articles for those involved in the arts and culture industry. This has usually involved looking back at a career or commenting on cultural events of the day.

As well as writing about projects initiated by others, I have worked on my own history projects with Turner Contemporary, Dreamland, Kent County Council and Arts Council England. I am Director of social history CIC Rendezvous Projects and a consultant to the Dreamland Heritage Trust.