beneditorial Words+Ideas
Writing and editorial support for magazines, websites, newsletters, presentations, displays and more
Call 07894 076998
Who I am, What I Do, How I Do It
Hello. I'm Ben Sharratt. With 35 years of experience in content creation as a writer and editor, I have worked on various magazines and online newsletters, covering consumer, trade, travel, sport, business, employee, and alumni. I also write speeches, script and present videos and specialise in historical interpretation for business.
Whatever the subject, whoever I'm interviewing, I aim to convey the character of the place, the person, or the product through engaging quotes and anecdotes, all presented in jargon-free copy with a splash of humour where appropriate. This approach also informs my work as a social archivist, where I make words work beautifully with photography, graphics, and historical artifacts.
If you need writing and editorial support, please email: ben100lines@gmail.com
contributor to a wide array of TITLES
writing for staff and alumni publications
The human side of business
I have vast experience as an editor and writer for employee and alumni publications. My strongest suit is finding the human stories buried in management-speak - and bringing them to life with insight, originality and warmth. It's an approach that has won awards.
Jettison the jargon
Staff and alumni newsletters need to showcase knowledge and achievement, while fostering a sense of belonging. This means enabling individuals, regardless of their role or seniority, to communicate in an authentic manner rather than sounding like corporate robots. Say it with feeling. While strategic goals should be woven into your conten
Staff and alumni newsletters need to showcase knowledge and achievement, while fostering a sense of belonging. This means enabling individuals, regardless of their role or seniority, to communicate in an authentic manner rather than sounding like corporate robots. Say it with feeling. While strategic goals should be woven into your content, it requires skillful copywriting to achieve this without coming across as boastful, overbearing or bland. I offer editorial services that ensure your copy is free from clunky grammar, corporate cliche and the modern plague of too many exclamation marks!!!
staff TITLES
A wide range of voices
I've worked on internal and external publications for some of the world's highest-profile organisations. Impactful content requires a wide selection of voices, a great blend of news, profiles and features, and writers who know how to make the world of work feel like an event rather than a duty.
A window on your world
Contact me if you want your employee communication to act as a meaningful window into your culture, to have character and colour, to be genuinely inclusive, to embrace your history as well as your future, to make people laugh and feel a real emotional connection with the people and projects around them.
Relatable stories and language
Relatable stories and language
In the digital age, there has been a significant shift from hard copy to online publications. With space and time often at a premium, the result can be formulaic and information-heavy. That doesn't have to be the case. Keep things simple, with complex subjects explained succinctly, a conversational tone and corporate messaging imparted with humility. Remember, companies don’t talk; people do.
ALUMNI TITLES
"People are too attentive. They want to pick this up for me and carry that but I can do it well myself without any hardship. Being 100 makes no difference"
For many years I edited a magazine for senior alumni of a global firm. Where lots of alumni communications make the mistake of hijacking the theme with too much company news and promotion, my approach was to let the alumni do the talking; it's their publication, not yours. And talk they did, fondly and frankly. Honouring their hard-earned experience works wonders for advocacy.
"When I arrived on the 21st floor, Irene took one look at me and said, 'Why are you dressed like that?"
I will breathe new life into your alumni magazine. I can help you select the most interesting features and interviewees, ensuring your readers hear from a range of people based on gender, ethnicity, geography and age. I will make their career stories come alive with tact and insight, drawing out pearls of wisdom and colourful anecdotes that reflect well on the time they spent with your company.
"It's ironic that after 17 years of working in diversity and inclusion, talking about sensitivities around the imperial past, they give me the Order of the British Empire!"
"It's ironic that after 17 years of working in diversity and inclusion, talking about sensitivities around the imperial past, they give me the Order of the British Empire!"
Looking back doesn't always have to mean rose-tinted glasses. The best alumni profiles reflect lessons learned from the bad times as well as the good. Pride in a long career emerges from a range of experiences, roles and relationships. I have the know-how to carefully turn all these angles into a great read.
BRINGING YOUR COMPANY'S HISTORY TO LIFE
How people made their mark
How people made their mark
I am a journalist by trade, but a side move into historical interpretation for business has proved immensely enjoyable. Working with designers, I have conceived, researched and written content for displays that examine every aspect of company history through tech, charity work, senior figures, social life - and always with people at the heart of the story.
Change, in all its forms
How people made their mark
As well as a dedicated history chat zone on the company's internal website through which I encouraged people to share their memories, I have scripted and presented videos focussing on cultural change through the years. The most useful research item? Staff magazines of course. They are a goldmine for insight into changing styles, attitudes and language.
The emotional connection
The emotional connection
History enables people to show and share emotion in a way that is rare in a formal workplace setting. I am skilled at making the thought-provoking connection between today's people and their company forebears of 20, 50 or even 100 years ago. Displays, books, websites and videos are a powerful means of encouraging pride and curiosity.
FOOTBALL writING
Books
I have written two books about West Ham:
Claret and Blue Blood, containing biographies of the club's homegrown players since the days of Bobby Moore. And Bring Me The
Head of Trevor Brooking, a compilation of highs/lows on and off the field since 1980.
Magazines, newspapers and more
I've written on football for the London Evening Standard, Four Four Two, FA Cup, World Cup and European Championship publications, club magazines for West Ham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, and for the Charlton Athletic matchday programme. One of my most enjoyable commissions was a regular piece for BBC Match of the Day magazine in which I interviewed well-known people who detested football.
what else?
More history
Peanut Butter
More history
With my social archivist's hat on, I devised and edited Mr Squirrell's Boys and For the Fifty, which examine the impact of World Wars One and Two on company employees. The books, produced in association with Leeds Beckett University, pay tribute to staff who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.
Music
Peanut Butter
More history
I am the singer/lyricist in electronic art-rock trio The Annex. We released our debut album, Suffolk punch, in May 2026. It's available on Bandcamp, while you can follow us on Instagram: @_the_annex
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter
I grew up in Manchester and now live in Suffolk. I wrote theatre reviews for The Stage for 14 years. I worked as a sub-editor on the Posh & Becks wedding edition of OK! magazine. I own (probably) the largest collection of unopened peanut butter jars in the world - podcast coming soon.