1. Overview of Warwick Mill Copywriting
Ltd
Warwick Mill Copywriting Ltd has been established for over 20 years
under the ownership of Technical Journalist Bruce Meechan, with his
wife Juliet coming onboard just over 10 years ago. Together they write
for the construction industry, producing articles, press releases, White
Papers and editorial, as well as advertorial, case studies, brochures and
blogs.
In addition to being contributing editors for construction magazines, they
produce copy for those involved in the industry, from public relations
companies to manufacturers, in print and online.
Contents
P2 About Bruce
P4 About Juliet
P6 Clients over the last 10 years – past and present
P7 Endorsements
P8 What we can do for you
P9 Have pen, will travel
P12 Contact details and rates
Contact details
Landline: T: 01626 833 667
Bruce
M: 07814 9000 73
E: bruce@wavcoms.co.uk
Juliet
M: 07790 957 412
E: juliet@wavcoms.co.uk
2. Bruce Meechan, B.Sc. Civ, Eng. Technical Journalist
Having undertaken a four year sandwich course in civil engineering, which included a
12 month spell as a trainee engineer on the construction of the reactors at Heysham
AGR Nuclear Power Station in Lancashire, Bruce Meechan graduated from
Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1979.
A similar spell with George Wimpey on the Canterbury By-pass gave him an insight
into carriageway and bridge construction, before he took the position of site agent
with Neacroft Civil Engineering on the Greenwich Peninsula Link Road, which now
accesses the O2 Arena and connects to the Blackwall Tunnel.
He stayed on in London through the mid-eighties, gaining experience of
refurbishment work, picking up many building skills along the way, while also taking
an interest in the trade press. Having had articles published in the now long vanished
Building Refurbishment Magazine, about projects he was working on, Bruce took up
the editor, Nick Jones’ offer to research and write other case histories for the title.
The boom years of 1986-88 offered a fertile environment for him to hone his writing
skills and gain commissions from other titles, to the point where he was able to ‘give
up the day job’ and write full time. His technical skills and industry insight
immediately bringing Bruce to the attention of public relations companies serving the
sector: enabling him to broaden his client base still further.
Over the past three decades Bruce has contributed to the majority of construction
titles including Building, Construction News, Individual Homes, ABC&D, Building
Design and National Builder. He has also undertaken consultancy writing work for a
number of PR companies including BPS Associates, CIB Communications, Taylor
Alden, John Ward-Turner Publicity, and Spurgeon Walker.
When in 1998 Kevin Edgeworth – a former executive with ABC&D, - embarked on
publishing his own editorial title for the social housing sector under the Waverley
Communications umbrella, Bruce was recruited as Consulting Editor, this being a
3. post he still holds today. He also continues as technical or features editor on other
Waverley journals, including Modern Methods of Construction and Refurb & Renew.
His work for Waverley regular sees Bruce attending exhibitions and press conferences
around the UK, also involving giving presentations to expert audiences on a variety of
subjects. And in 2005 he was invited by the Government of Quebec to report on the
timber growing and manufacturing industries; spending a week visiting Canadian
companies to produce a series of articles.
With an unrivalled blend of academic qualifications, practical building knowledge
and extensive editorial experience, Bruce Meechan is acknowledged as one of the
industry’s most accomplished journalists. His abilities though, have proved
transferable and he has written on many subjects including sport, leisure, disability
and current affairs.
His writing styles can meanwhile switch between in-depth technical analysis, case
histories, profiles, news, brochure copy, website material, and blogging.
Juliet Meechan, BA (Hons), freelance journalist and
editor (writing under the name of Juliet Woodcock).
Juliet has been writing nationwide for the construction industry for over 10 years and
has been the consulting editor of R&R (Refurb and Renew) magazine since its launch
in 2001. She also contributes articles and sub-edits material for HA (Housing
Association) and MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) magazines so has a good
knowledge of what is happening in the market place.
Other work includes writing case studies, product press releases and articles for both
PR companies as well as directly for manufacturers. This includes copy for adverts,
blogs and product news.
Having been involved with two self-builds, Juliet has a working knowledge of the
building industry, which is worth mentioning as she is often asked how a female can
4. understand, let alone write about, the construction business which remains a mainly
male dominated environment.
Subjects she has written about include philanthropy, regeneration, historical buildings
and renewable energy, as well as off-site construction, street furniture, paints,
ventilation, insulation, kitchens and bathrooms. Doors and windows, plumbing and
drainage systems, plus flooring, roofing and disability solutions are areas also
covered. This includes current issues such as recycling, waste management and
legislation, embracing the Code for Sustainable homes, Building Regulations and
DDA compliance.
Educationally, she has a BA degree in English, with A Levels in art and art history, so
would be able to write about these subject areas too.
Juliet also has nearly 20 years as a Registered General Nurse, working in A&E,
theatres, recovery, ICU and surgical wards.
Her interests include drawing and cartoons, some of which have been published; she
is therefore able to supply this type of artwork. Visualizations are another specialty,
such as for planning permission.
6. Endorsements
“I
would
recommend
Bruce
Meechan
as
a
highly
professional
technical
writer.
He
is
well
informed
on
a
vast
variety
of
subjects
and
he
delivers
highly
accurate
copy
with
excellent
technical
details
and
customer
endorsements.”
Robert
Drury,
Taylor
Alden
pr
2012
“Dear Juliet,
I have received the January / February 2014 issue of Refurb and
RENEW and was very impressed with its presentation and content
particularly your article, ‘The dawn of a new era’ on the architectural
history of our great railway buildings. Are you going to publish the
series when completed?”
John Reeves, ACP Architects 2014
“I have worked closely with Bruce and Juliet for over four years during
which time they have provided copywriting services for Plastic Surgeon.
They always deliver excellent work, on time and on budget, writing for
the wide range of differing mediums and addressing the issues that are
relevant to Plastic Surgeon’s diverse customer base.“Their writing styles
cover a broad range of items from customer case studies, editorial articles
and white papers, to newsletters, websites and blogs. They have an in-depth
knowledge of the construction and housebuilding sectors and are
very good at researching new sectors or topics as required.
“I would have no hesitation in recommending them at all.”
Cathy Baillie, Marketing Manager, Plastic Surgeon. 2014
“As
the
PR
consultant
to
trade
associations,
representing
the
principal
manufacturers
of
precast
concrete
flooring
systems,
structures
and
façades,
for
over
20
years
I
have
no
hesitation
in
expressing
my
admiration
for
Bruce
and
Juliet’s
professionalism
and
reporting
skills.
Extensive
knowledge
of
the
construction
industry
coupled
with
creative
journalism
underlines
their
position
as
key
opinion
formers
within
the
market
sectors
targeted
by
the
journals
for
which
they
have
editorial
responsibility.”
John
Pritchard
FCIPR.
2014
7. What we can do for you …..
Warwick Mill Copywriting is able to write articles, news stories and other features for
company/organisation newsletters, or produce the much tighter and factual copy
needed in product brochures.
Its two main writers will work from flat plans with headings and other written or
verbal instructions, conducting research and interviews or even site visits as are
required to obtain material.
The company also has access to partners in the printing and photographic fields in
order to offer a complete turnkey service for the finished brochure or newsletter, in
print runs of whatever size is required.
To summarise what we can do for you:
Articles
White papers
Press releases
Brochures
Blogs
Newsletters
Case studies
Editorial
Advertorial
Visualisations – slightly different to copywriting, but it’s a service we offer …
With fine art and pottery having been option subjects in her degree from the
University of Exeter, Juliet has a talent for both drawing and three-dimensional
media; and an extensive portfolio of commissions for clients across the country.
She has produced cartoons for national publications as well as portraits for private
customers and 3-D drawings of properties derived from architects’ plans. Amarantis,
a Devon based manufacturer of high quality tablemats, also used her services to turn
photographs of hotels, houses and landmark buildings into pen and ink illustrations
with a level of sensitivity and style impossible to obtain from computer graphic
packages.
Areas of specialty include:
Drawings in pencil or pen and ink
Cartoons
Visualizations for planning permission, new products
8. Have pen, will travel…
As contributing editors to Waverley Communication’s magazines –
Housing Association, Refurb & Renew and MMC – we get invited to
numerous press launches, in a variety of places, across the country, and
even abroad.
We also do a lot of travelling in order to interview clients for the PR
companies and manufacturers we write for. Some of our trips involve
factory tours, which we have attended across the UK, as well as in
Europe. Although all are interesting, many involve hard work, with long
presentations and a lot of time on the road, plus early starts and many a
late finish.
We also attend trade events for on behalf of Waverley – the picture below
has been photoshopped, and depicts Juliet as an angel and Kev (the MD
of Waverley) as a little devil! Bruce is in the middle looking half
asleep! This was at Ecobuild, which involves manning the stand and
many hours trudging the halls to meet and interview manufacturers – hard
work, but fun too.
9. Other trips involved in our business have often included mixing pleasure
with business accompanying other journos; gathering at London airports,
waiting to be taken to Paris Disneyland for a couple of days; we have
been to Venice, Lake Garda and Berlin, and even the beautiful world
heritage site Porto, and across the Atlantic to New York. While one of
the PR companies we write for on a regular basis keeps mooting the idea
of Chicago….
Bruce travelled across Quebec for a week in 2006 looking at the
province’s timber industry on behalf of MMC, interviewing half a dozen
different manufacturers as a guest of the government. Although
glamorous sounding, this trip involved a lot of travelling and very long
days; plus then writing up a string of articles when he got home.
We also get invited to some fantastic venues in London – a press trip on
the London Eye, at Claridges and the Ritz. We’ve enjoyed lunch at The
Ivy, Mosimann’s and J Sheekey, as well as Langhams. Without these
press trips, we would probably never have visited some of these places,
but it’s all been good fun over the years, and enabled us to become good
friends with some of our clients.
Last year, one press trip involved a day’s fly fishing, which Juliet really
enjoyed – see her trout – four and a half pounds! She’s now addicted to
the sport – hook line and sinker ….
10. The above picture shows Bruce on an evening boat trip on the Norfolk
Broads, which we were invited on to celebrate – and report on – the 25th
birthday of Heatrae Sadia’s Megaflo product.
11. Corporate entertainment at Twickenham, with a presentation, fab lunch
and champers ….. followed by a stay in a budget hotel we’d booked for
ourselves that overlooked a burnt out tower block – we were too scared to
go out, the area resembled war torn Beirut!
You never know what life is going to throw at you as a journalist, but we
are prepared to travel anywhere to report on a story for our clients.
12. Contact details and rates
Bruce and Juliet Meechan,
Warwick Mill Copywriting Ltd,
1, Warwick Mill,
Pottery Road,
Bovey Tracey,
Devon
TQ13 9JJ
Landline
T: 01626 833 667
Bruce
M: 07814 9000 73
E: bruce@wavcoms.co.uk
Juliet
M: 07790 957 412
E: juliet@wavcoms.co.uk
Rates are as follows:
£100 – 120 for 300 to 400 words for case studies
£250 per 1,000 words for feature articles, depending on complexity
£25 per hour for office or site work, or meetings
Travel expenses
Pending: www.warwickmillcopywriting.co.uk
Warwick Mill Copywriting Ltd TM is a Registered Trademark
VAT registration number: 826 1351 46
