BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF:

I was born in central London in May 1975, and grew up in Ealing, west London, queen of the suburbs. I attended Gunnersbury Catholic School for Boys which proudly counts Tony Slattery among its former pupils. Following a reasonably successful adolescence and some half-decent exam results I went to Warwick University to do a BA in history, followed for good measure by an MA in philosophy.

Returning to London, and qualified to the hilt, I soon found a position with the multi-national music retailer HMV selling some truly awful CDs and sometimes unpacking boxes. This lasted for a year before I was sacked for corrupting young minds - I had sold a copy of the film Scream (certificate 18) on video to a girl who turned out to be 13 years old, and who now, sadly, will never be able to watch a horror film again without deconstructing it in terms of irony and ritualistic genre signification.

Lacking a favourable employer's reference, I was forced to temp for the next 6 months before I found a permanent job at West Hampstead Housing Association as a housing adviser. After a little more than 2 years it became apparent that the best housing advice I could ever offer anyone was, "whatever you do, don't become a tenant of West Hampstead Housing Association, " and at this point I decided to leave and do something I that really liked.

In Spring of this year I applied to the University of Westminster to train as a journalist, and I was very glad to be accepted to the postgraduate diploma course.