Table Of Contents
Experience
Emma's first job in journalism was as a reporter on the Kent & Sussex Courier in 2003. But things have changed a lot since she covered parish council meetings and car crashes. After a short stint on Money Marketing, she stumbled into writing about money and discovered a rather geeky interest in personal finance.
She has been freelance since 2004 – a time when house prices were going through the roof, the economy was looking pretty healthy, and borrowing money was easy.
But just four years later everything had changed and she was writing about the credit crunch and subsequent Global Financial Crisis in 2008/9. Little did she know that another, completely different, financial crisis would follow, with much of 2020 and 2021 taken up by writing about the financial impact of Covid-19.
Whatever the economic situation, the subjects Emma writes about remain broadly the same: Mortgages, property, leasehold/freehold, insurance, banking, savings, debt, money saving, student finance, household bills, and general money management.
Media coverage
Emma has been interviewed on TV, radio and various podcasts.
She has appeared as a financial expert covering topics as diverse as the cost of Christmas (on Sky TV), how to save (on the Royal London The Penny Drops podcast), and the financial impact of being single (The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 5).
Published works
Emma has written for almost all the UK's national newspapers, several specialist magazines and a raft of financial websites.
One of Emma's stories – New low: landlord fined for room accessed on all fours about a rogue landlord – appeared on the front page of the Guardian in 2014.
Emma also wrote a short book entitled The Little Book of Shocking Money Facts published by Fiell Publishing. She also contributed chapters to How Money Works, published by DK.
Citations
Emma was voted the 2013 Headline Money freelance financial journalist of the year, and also the 2013 Headline Money household money journalist of the year.
She was highly commended in the freelance category at Headline Money in both 2012 and 2014. In 2014 she was also shortlisted for the Consumer Journalist of the Year at the Santander Media Awards.
In 2020, she was shortlisted for Scoop of the Year at the Property Press Awards and for Personal Finance Story of the Year at the Headline Money Awards.
Degrees and/or titles
Emma has a BA (Hons) in Leisure Management (Coventry University, 1992) and National Council of Training for Journalists (NCTJ) certificate (Lambeth College, 2003).
Previous jobs
After graduating Emma briefly worked as a duty manager at a central London leisure centre. She went on to work in sales for BT for four years. Her favourite ever job was as an extra on Home & Away while living in Sydney, Australia.