Before becoming freelance in 2004, Richard built his career with a number of successful London and regional agencies:

2003

360 Degrees/Four By Four, London
Creative Director

2003

J Walter Thompson, London
Senior Copywriter

2000

TMP Worldwide, London
Senior Copywriter

1997

Freeland Haynes, Southampton
Head of Copy

1995

USP Advertising, Bournemouth
Creative Group Head, then Joint Creative Director

1993

Riggs Advertising, Southampton
Senior Copywriter, then Head of Copy, then Joint Creative Director

1991

Morton Stowe, Brighton
Head of Copy

1990

Michael Bungey DFS (Saatchi & Saatchi Group), Liverpool
Creative Director

1988

Smedley McAlpine Saward Baker, London
Copywriter

1987

Lonsdales, London
Copywriter

1986

Profile Communications, Brighton
Junior Copywriter

Richard has experience across a broad range of sectors, with particular depth in:

• Automotive Honda, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Saab, Scania, Smart, Toyota, TVR, Volvo
• Banking and Finance ABN AMRO, Abbey, Allied Dunbar, AXA, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Bradford & Bingley, Clerical Medical, Conister Trust, Eagle Star, Ernst & Young, Extel, Fairbairn Private Bank, Friends Provident, Grant Thornton, HSBC, KPMG, Legal & General, Lloyds TSB, Merrill Lynch, NatWest, Norwich Union, Portman Building Society, Prudential, Royal Bank of Scotland, Stoy Hayward, Sun Alliance, Woolwich Building Society, Yorkshire Building Society, Zurich International
• Charity and Third Sector 2Care, ActionAid, Barnardo’s, Birth Defects Foundation, Blue Cross, Carbon Trust, Cats Protection, Charities Aid Foundation, Children’s Society, Christian Aid, Focus Learning Trust, Friends of the Earth, Girls’ Brigade, Help the Aged, Help the Hospices, Learning Trust, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, PDSA, Sense, SightSavers International, St Dunstan’s, Voluntary Service Overseas, YMCA
• Food and Drink Brake Brothers, British Sugar, Cadbury-Schweppes, Carlsberg, Diageo, Douwe Egberts, Guinness, Jordans Cereals, Kraft, McCains, Müller, Northern Foods, Okell’s Brewery, PepsiCo, Premier International Foods, Rowntree-Mackintosh, United Distillers & Vintners
• Government and Public Service Basic Skills Agency, Civil Aviation Authority, Crossrail, Defra, European Social Fund, Financial Services Authority, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, GCHQ, Greater London Authority, HM Treasury, House of Commons, Irish Government (Health Service Executive), Isle of Man Government (Anti-money laundering, Anti-drug importation, Country branding, Road safety), Isle of Man Post, Law Society, Local Government Association, London Development Agency, Manx National Heritage, Met Office, Metropolitan Police, Ministry of Defence Police, Ofsted, Royal Mail, St Helena Government, States of Guernsey, Transport for London, Westminster Council
• High Technology and Telecommunications 3 Mobile, Bang & Olufsen, BT, Cable & Wireless (Sure Mobile), Carphone Warehouse, HP, IBM, ICL, Intel, Kingston Communications, Manx Telecom, O2, Raytheon, Thorn EMI Computer Software, Toshiba, Vodafone, WordPerfect
• Housebuilding and Construction Barratt Homes, Crest Homes, McCarthy & Stone, Taylor Woodrow, Wates
• Leisure and Tourism Alton Towers, Andorra Tourist Board, bmi, Bodelwyddan Castle, British Airways, Britannia Airways, Butlins, Cosmos Yachting, Cunard, Marwell Zoo, Natural History Museum, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, SwanTours, Tate Gallery, Thomas Cook, Virgin Atlantic, Victoria & Albert Museum, VisitBritain, Warner Brothers
• Medical Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Allen & Hanburys (Seretide, Zirtec), AstraZeneca, Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Envision Pharma, GE Medical, GlaxoSmithKline, Institute of Animal Health, Merck, NHS (NTAC), Novartis, Nuffield Hospitals, Olbas Oil, Owen Mumford, Pfizer, Royal Brompton Hospital, Smith & Nephew, Society for Endocrinology, Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Waxsol
• Recruitment Richard is one of the most experienced recruitment copywriters in Europe, having produced tens of thousands of copy-only ads or conceptual campaigns for almost every major client. He also has a broad track record in student recruitment for a large number of universities and colleges, including Trinity College Dublin and the University of Oxford.
• Retail Argos, Asda, B&Q, Carpet Bargains, Comet, Courts, Currys, Gap, John Lewis, Ladbrokes, Marks & Spencer, MFI, New Look, Ocado, Poundland, Radio Rentals, Safeway, Specsavers, Tesco, Visionhire, Waitrose, WH Smith, William Hill
• Miscellaneous AA, Aga, Anglian Windows, Arriva Trains, BAE Systems, Bevan-Funnell Furniture, BOC, BP, British American Tobacco, British Gas, Capita, Connex, Consumers’ Association, Dunlop Footwear, Gallaher, Harman Audio, Hawker-Siddeley, Hertz, Hodder Headline, International Paint, Npower, Securicor, Serco, Shell, Sky, South West Water, Stannah Stairlifts

For recruitment advertising clients, yes. A copy-only ad or web posting for a single vacancy, with or without headline, is £50.00. Additional vacancies in a composite ad are £25.00 each and additional headlines (if the client requires a choice) are £10.00 each. For conceptual ads and all consumer advertising projects, I prefer to quote in advance for each job. Alternatively, clients are welcome to tell me in advance how much they have to spend on a particular project, and we can take things from there. Please note that all my quotes are exclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate for clients based in the UK and Isle of Man.

No. However, if clients would like me to work in-house rather than from home, we can agree a daily rate for doing this. In addition, I will pass on any travel and accommodation costs.

Far from it. I can be reached by landline, mobile, fax, email, IM or videoconferencing, and am happy to travel to meet clients if required. At home, I have a double resilient internet connection (VDSL broadband plus 4G modem) and when I am out or off-island I always have my iPhone (with push email), iPad and laptop. My clients are based all over the British Isles and Europe.

Yes. The vast bulk of my clients are agencies, but I am happy to work direct with advertisers both large and small.

I love to write press ads, posters, TV commercials, radio commercials, direct mail packs, brochures, leaflets, viral campaigns and websites. In general I do not write speeches, corporate videos, technical manuals or packaging copy, although I would be happy to do so for regular clients.

I am purely a copywriter and conceptual thinker. However, if you require full campaign solutions, I can use my extensive industry contacts to engage a designer or recommend a suitable local agency.

Becoming the UK’s youngest creative director at the age of 23 (Campaign, December 1989), beating Bartle Bogle Hegarty in a pitch for Dunlop Footwear and winning an effectiveness award for SwanTours (having created a mailpack generating an unprecedented 20% response) are just some of the highpoints of my career.

Not at all. If you require a one-off ad, please contact me for a quote.

For one-off assignments, I invoice on completion of the project. For regular clients (who constitute 99% of my income), I invoice on the last working day of the month, with a full narrative statement listing all jobs. In both cases, unless otherwise agreed my standard payment terms are 30 days.

If you or your clients have concerns with any concepts or copy, I will revise the work without charge on being given clear instructions. Where a brief changes significantly or I am provided with additional information after starting work, I will make a further charge to be agreed in advance. Please note that I cannot work speculatively, so should you or your client choose not to use my copy for any reason the full fee will still be payable.

No. You are free to use me as and when you please. You may also use any concepts or copy I produce for you as you wish, without additional fees for multiple usage.

Please feel free to get in touch via the contact form or my mobile number between 11am and midnight any day of the week. I do not take holidays, and always have my iPhone, iPad and laptop with me, so I am available every single working day. I respond to all work-related emails within five minutes of receipt, though please allow more time if you contact me at the weekend. For urgent jobs, please ring me if you have not heard back from me within a few minutes of emailing.