Site picks
- Once we hated business jargon… Back in the day, Plain Text railed against corporatese like everyone else…
- …but now we've changed our minds. It’s quite useful really, in its proper place. Why resist?
Great writing picks
- The Register The godfathers of gonzo tech journalism.
- John Naughton When he comments, you know it matters.
Who we are
Paul Nero, co-founder and principal writer
Formerly head of communications at the Financial Times web portal FT.com, Paul has worked in advertising and PR at the BBC, Visa International, ITV and Pitney Bowes Inc. He started his career in local newspapers and radio, having gained a degree in Theatre Arts and Social Sciences. He also has an MBA from Bristol Business School. Paul has written two books, Creative Business (FT/Prentice Hall, 2003) and Blagging it (Michael O’Mara, 2004) and also presents a weekly music and news programme on local radio.
Paul Waddington, co-founder and principal writer
Paul worked in editorial and marketing posts during a long career at Reuters, before joining the Financial Times as communications director for FT.com. He was responsible for award-winning campaigns at both organisations. Paul holds a BA (Hons) in French from the University of Liverpool. Beyond the world of business writing, Paul’s interests include road cycling (he is chairman of Velo Club Beverley), ecology and food. His book Seasonal Food was published by Eden Project Books/Transworld on 1 September 2004. It was followed in May 2006 by 21st-Century Smallholder, and in January 2008 by Shades of Green, also for Eden Project Books.
Norman Ireland, associate writer
Norman has spent most of his working life in the financial technology sector, mainly with blue-chip software vendors. From 1987 to 1994 he worked for Datastream International (now part of Thomson Financial) latterly as marketing manager of Datastream Investment Management Services. In 1994 he was recruited by Reuters to be Head of Marketing for their new venture, Reuters Business Information (now Factiva). From 1996 to 2000 he worked as a director of SunGard Investment Systems (UK) Ltd., spending his final two years there as managing director. Norman subsequently become an independent marketing consultant and has been working with Plain Text since the end of 2003. Norman holds a BA in Economics (Hons) from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. His interests include theatre, motorcycling and food and he aspires to make perfect sourdough bread.
Paul Roberts, associate writer
Paul has over a decade’s copywriting experience in both public and private sectors. His recent projects range from updating benefit leaflets to creating superyacht brochures. A former in-house editor at the UK’s Central Office of Information, he is particularly accustomed to ensuring information meets plain language standards and government tone of voice guidelines. The highlight of his professional life was writing a story for a wine bottle label. The highlights of his personal life are any days when batsmen fall for his left-arm wrist spin.
Rob Sears, associate writer
Rob was formerly a senior creative at McCann Erickson, where he devised advertising campaigns for clients including HP, BMW, Sony and the Carbon Trust. He has eight years experience writing for business, and his short stories have appeared in McSweeney’s and anthologies. Rob graduated from Cambridge University in philosophy in 2001.