The London College of Printing put me on the road to a successful career in journalism more than 25 years ago. Having dabbled in travel writing, I got my first proper job on a grocery title that earned me enough stripes to be able to leave and become the News Editor on The Publican Newspaper.

It was 1989 and there couldn’t have been a more exciting time, professionally, to get into booze and bars. The long-established “beer tie” had just been severed and the world of brewers and pubs was about to undergo a massive shake up.

By the late 1990s, having moved up the ranks to Editor, I was keen to broaden my field of expertise and so I left the bar and went onto the high street as Editor of Retail Week.

Then, with two weeklies under my belt, I looked for a bigger challenge and so I became a Group Editor of three magazines, including the take-home trade’s weekly, Off Licence News. But elsewhere, BSkyB was experimenting with business-to-business television.

The Pub Channel was launched in 2000 with me as its Editor. With two-hours of daily live news, The Pub Channel broadcast 18-hours a day, five days a week. But high costs and little return meant that 18-months later the live show was axed. I survived to live another day, producing specialist training programmes and other tailored content.

Altogether I spent eight years with Sky, with two years’ as Head of Communications for Sky Business, and latterly as the publisher of its two monthly customer magazines.

Today, I’m happily balancing work and family life by concentrating on copy writing and contract publishing. Working with clients to produce publications that deliver a message and service through the pages of a well written, distinctively-designed and outstanding magazine or web page is both challenging and fulfilling. Using my skills as a writer and a publisher I’m pleased to be part of the team at Blythe Weigh Communications and help meet the ever-growing needs of our clients.