About

Hi there!

I started as a news reporter and then chief reporter on the Droitwich Spa Advertiser, before moving onto sub-editing and page planning. Shortly after joining the Bournemouth Echo in late 1997 I was offered a job with the Birmingham Mail, sub-editing and planning the news pages. A flair for design saw me transferred to the features department, also overseeing sports supplements. I later became deputy features editor for the Mail, Birmingham Post and Sunday Mercury, then features editor. I now spend most of my week either news editing and designing news pages, with some sport and some supplements thrown in. 

Since moving into page planning all those years ago, opportunities to write for the Mail have been limited to travel / days out features; reviews of music and theatre shows; and previews of gigs – interviewing many of my favourite musicians, such as Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos, Neil Tennant, Simon le Bon and Nile Rodgers. The travel reports (about 120 of them) are gathered together at www.holidayinghack.com

November 2024 saw the publication of my first book, Ooh Aah Droitwich Spa. A 54-page hardback, it contains fun and fascinating stories about the Worcestershire town I’ve lived in almost all of my life. I also designed all the pages and took most of the pictures. It has received universal praise and was described as ”a wonderful publication, brilliantly researched and beautifully produced” by the judges of the UK’s foremost competition for local history books.

In 2026, a front page I designed for the Birmingham Mail was named the best in the country at the prestigious Regional Press Awards (see picture).

I have been married for 21 years to Jayne and we have two school-aged children. I enjoy watching sports –  especially football –  playing tennis and going on scenic walks. 

Adrian

2026