I started writing for The Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today (KCW Today) in 2013 as an intern and was soon promoted to a full time position on the local news team. It was a local newspaper with a focus on arts & culture, where I learnt to research and write articles to tight deadlines and co-ordinate with the team to produce a cohesive & interesting issue each edition.
I developed an understanding of how the business works, from copywriting to designing page layouts, website maintenance and communicating with our audiences on social media.
One of my major passions has always been food & drink, which led me to look for a change of work experience and so I went to New Zealand to train as a chef.
After sometime wondering the Australasian continent and working as a chef, I returned to London and the paper I had previously worked for to take up the fantastic opportunity of setting up and managing the Food & Drinks section. This took me to food events, restaurants and bar launches all over central London and helped me to build a network of contacts in the London food scene, as well as learning a lot and having a lot of fun along the way.
During this time I developed a strong interest in wine (and good whisky!), and decided to move into the wine trade getting a job at Oddbins as an assistant manager. I have now been working with Oddbins for several years building my knowledge of fine wines, fancy spirits and all manner of alcoholic beverages while writing on the side attempting to work my way into the world of wine writing.
. Four years experience writing copy for both print and online
. Experienced in managing social media accounts for a local paper
. Experienced in setting up, redesigning and managing websites using wordpress and other cms
. Experienced in using Indesign and Photoshop
. Trained chef with WSET level 3 certificate in knowledge of wine
Contact Details:
Email: finbar.foley@hotmail.co.uk
Finbar Foley 