Skills and experience

I am qualified in language and management, having a first-class BA (Hons) in French and Scandinavian Language and Linguistics with Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

I am an advanced member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP – click on the logo above), and a member of Clarity and the Plain Language Association InterNational (PLAIN). I have served as coordinator of the SfEP’s North West local group, UK representative of Clarity, and secretary of PLAIN.

I have management experience in both public and private sectors. Following a spell with Touche Ross, I worked in the National Health Service (NHS) for eight years as a general manager. During this time, I was seconded to the University of Manchester for a year, as Fellow in Health Service Management. I established Carr Consultancy in 1997, and am also an associate of Plain Language Commission, for which I write a regular newsletter, Pikestaff.

Publications

I enjoy writing for publication, and have written a book (Tackling NHS Jargon: getting the message across, Radcliffe Medical Press, 2002), course (Writing in Plain Language: Clearer Letters and Emails, Plain Language Commission, 2006) and SfEP guide (Editing into Plain Language: Working for non-publishers, SfEP, 2011), several book chapters, and many journal and website articles. Click on the cover pictures to find out more.

Services

We provide freelance wordsmith services to a range of organisations – small and large – in the public and private sectors:

• Writing – we’ll craft a professional text tailored to your audience, using the information you supply (or tell us where to find).
• Rewriting – we'll use the information in your document, restructuring and rewording it to create a high-quality text.
• Summarising – we’ll produce a summary tailored to your audience.
• Editing – we’ll suggest stylistic, structural and substantive changes to ensure the text is clear, correct and consistent, so it reads well and meets the needs of its readers.
• Proofreading – we’ll spot typographical, linguistic and positional errors on a proof, and mark corrections.
• Document kitemarking – through our link with Plain Language Commission, we'll arrange for your clarified document to be kitemarked with the Clear English Standard.
• Readability testing – we’ll assess how suitable your document is for your target readers, using our specialist software and editorial experience.
  

Contact me

To get in touch, please email or call on 01925 767403.