My work

Hello. I'm Tom. It's very nice to make your acquaintance. 

This is my portfolio, but I thought I'd go into a bit more detail about what I do now and what I've done in the past. 

I am currently working as a freelance copywriter and content strategist and building out my client base. 

My most recent full-time role was at VML Enterprise Solutions, which is part of WPP and has a large group of agencies with clients worldwide. 

I was a Content Lead and worked with UX and UI designers as well as project managers, consultants and developers to deliver content solutions for clients. I did almost two years in the role and I worked for over 30 clients, including Montblanc, Ford of Europe, Essity Healthcare, Greene King, British American Tobacco, Lindt, Coca-Cola, World Duty Free and Staysure Insurance. 

I worked with clients to create strategies and guidance to help them get better results from their content; often this involved working out to grow their organic reach so they didn't need to spend as much to try and attract search results. As we built out strategies, the focus was always on making sure the documents we delivered were practical and could be quickly put into practice when they were given to a copywriter. 

I managed two UX writers and helped to grow the content team at VML Enterprise Solutions to six people from an initial two when I started. 

Before VML, I worked as Senior Entertainment Editor at TechRadar. 

I ran TechRadar’s entertainment department, overseeing two staff writers as well as delivering features, news and opinion pieces each day. While in post, I developed a new strategy for the entertainment section, zeroing in on readers’ priorities. The result was that traffic more than doubled compared to the equivalent period in 2021.

TechRadar is one of the biggest publications at Future Publishing and places a heavy focus on SEO Optimisation. During my time there, I undertook and finished Future's SEO Bootcamp, gaining experience in creating content pyramids and learning how to win and maintain high Google rankings. 

From October 2013 to January 2022, I worked as the Editor of hmv.com, the editorial presence for the UK's biggest music, film and merchandise retailer. 

I was the Editor of hmv.com from its launch. I planned and designed all of its features, created the tone of voice and content strategy and refined a template for the site which proved to be a significant success. 

The role expanded during my time at hmv. I edited copy produced by in-house colleagues and freelance contributors, managed a complex content management system and our freelance budget, and I expanded the site’s vision to include video content and a podcast which I presented, entitled ‘My Inspiration’. I also curated and assembled hmv’s newsletter, which was sent to three million inboxes every week.

Before joining hmv, I worked as a Social Media Manager for Organic Film from January 2013 to October 2013. 

I worked on the social media campaigns for Peaky Blinders, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing and a host of other projects during my spell at Organic Film.

My first proper job was at NME, where I spent two years as an Online Writer/News Reporter. 

I researched, wrote and edited up to 15 news stories a day for NME.com. I handled interviews and wrote magazine content. I also managed the site’s social media presence during my time there, growing both NME’s Facebook and Twitter presences significantly. Twitter followers grew from 110,000 to more than 350,000 in just over 18 months, while the number of Facebook likes grew from 82,000 to 210,000 in the same time period.