I'm a journalist and broadcaster with a strong background in strategic relationships and public affairs. I'm currently working as the Editor of The BusinessDesk.com the best source of business news, analysis and events.

I'm a journalist and broadcaster with a strong background in strategic relationships and public affairs. I'm currently working as the Editor of The BusinessDesk.com the best source of business news, analysis and events.

I have also co-hosted Music Therapy, a music radio show and Northern Spin, a politics podcast.

I'm probably best known as the former editor of Insider Media from 2000-2012, where I enjoyed a real purple patch, winning awards for investigative journalism and business commentary, and enjoying the commercial success and diversification of that time.

In 2016 I joined Manchester Metropolitan University, where helped set up the MetroPolis think tank, managed civic relationships including with government ministers, local MPs, regional businesses, the public sector, and engaging actively with Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s first elected Mayor.

The University supported me in further academic study - something I'd always wanted to do, but didn't have the time - and I completed a part-time MSc by Research in Political Networks, using Metro Mayors as a case study.

I used that as a base to write extensively about the people and personalities that have shaped the North and contributed to the development of ideas for a self-confident city region. ​As you can see from the above picture with Gary Neville.

Between those roles 2012-2015, I took some time to reset and work out what I wanted to do. I wrote a couple of books, I got more experience hosting events and presenting radio shows, and found a few interesting projects to get involved in.

As I was no longer bound by the impartiality rules of journalism, which I took seriously, I decided to get active in my local community and in politics and slightly by accident I became the Labour parliamentary candidate for the 2015 General Election in Hazel Grove, recording the party’s highest ever vote and share in that constituency.

During that time I ran a number of workshops and creative programmes for private businesses and through 2014-15 led a long term project on the future of accountancy practices for the ICAEW, called Tomorrow's Practice.

My other clients included the investment bank Seneca, KPMG, JMW Solicitors, Intuit (Quick Books), Downtown in Business, Daisy Group, and the Prince’s Trust. I also hosted the stakeholder roadshow to launch the GrowthAccelerator service in October 2012 in 8 English cities.

In 2013 I co-founded DISCUSS, a new debating forum designed to stimulate intellectual curiosity and discourse, securing The Guardian as a media partner.

My debut novel - Death at The Edge - is dark comic novel set amidst the financial crisis of 2008.