“Twenty years of mouthwatering food and drink copy, for premium brands, artisan producers and major retailers. Most of my projects have been collaborations with designers and design studios, some in-house, some direct. The proof of the pudding, in my case, is in the reading.”
THE NEWT IN SOMERSET
I recently spent two years writing for one of the country's most considered food and drink brands. Covering product launches and campaigns, marketing emails and social content, my work needed to match the exacting standards set by this luxury country estate.
Marketing emails:
Packaging:
Ads (print, social) & POS:
Website pages:
“Will really immersed himself in our products to write great copy, interrogating suppliers for USPs and getting stuck in at tasting panels. But where he’s an absolute saviour is product naming – researching artisan techniques and historical places to come up with unique names for our cheeses, that are authentic and genuinely resonate with our customers.”
BEAU CACAO
Beau Cacao is a bean-to-bar chocolatier that makes the finest chocolate I've ever tasted. Founders Bo and Thomas source cacao from plantations in Malaysia and handcraft their bars in the French Alps. After tasting it, I was completely enthralled – and wrote them a rallying mission statement and the tasting notes that went on to inspire their packaging design.
“Will transformed us, and without knowing it at that time, helped us structure our story. He’s not only a great writer, he’s a connoisseur and has design sense, so his ideas really help set a brand apart. Good copy is vital for making an impact. Don’t skip the words, invest in them!”
PEYTON AND BYRNE
Several years writing for restaurateur Oliver Peyton's bakery and café brand – packaging, online copy, menus, and café interiors. From chocolate bars and jam labels to tea boxes and signage. The brand was art-directed by Mark Farrow, and I always got a kick out of seeing Peyton and Byrne packaging on other designers' mood boards, from M&S and beyond.
MARKS & SPENCER
I worked with M&S in two phases. First as part of their in-house design studio, working on launches such as their first cook's ingredients range and The Collection sub-brand. Later in the Wine team, I wrote labels and tasting notes for hundreds of products, plus the M&S wine club and a research project on the psychology of wine packaging.
Packaging:
Wine writing:
“As a team we often get too close to our products and Will has been great at getting us to see things through the eyes of a customer again. I would thoroughly recommend using him.”
“Will delivered high‑quality copy precisely to brief, working with professionalism, efficiency and clear attention to timelines throughout his time with M&S.”
WESTCOMBE DAIRY
One of the 'big three' artisan cheddar makers. I've worked with Westcombe since 2013 – first rewriting their website, then designing and building them a new one, then creating a second site for their cultures business, and an online store when Covid hit. Plus product copy, blogs and press work along the way.
Postcards:
Website:
“Will is brilliant! He really has a deep understanding of our brand and what we are looking to achieve.”
AHMAD TEA | GALERIE DU THÉ
In 2019, I helped this British tea merchant build something new: Galerie du Thé, their premium artisan tea brand. The work needed elevated language, a sophisticated voice, and names that would resonate with connoisseurs. I led on packaging, web content, and naming – finding stories that positioned the new brand alongside the world's finest.
Alongside it, ongoing SEO copy for hundreds of products across their main e-commerce and Amazon stores.
SAINSBURY’S
My 'big break' came in 2004 as sole copywriter on the first rebrand of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference. Working with Brewer Riddiford (now BrandMe), I wrote copy across 3,000 premium food and drink products in every category.
A career-defining job, this one launched me as a specialist food and drink copywriter. It taught me what copy actually works at scale, and what's just fluff.
Packaging:
QUINTA DA FORMIGOSA
A small winery in Portugal's Douro Valley. The owners brought me in to write back labels for their range — copy that had to work on the bottle and on the website. We talked wines, estate, terroir, and the constraints of small label space.
ROBERTS VINEYARD SERVICES
Two websites, written simultaneously: one for Neil Roberts's viticulture business on California's Central Coast, the other for his personal wine cellar. The work required merging B2B technical writing with B2C storytelling — capturing his laid-back Californian voice while doing justice to his pioneering work in regenerative viticulture.
I’ve Also Worked With…
SACLA’ UK
Email and social media marketing, web copy, supplier stories, recipe intros
TESCO
Packaging copy
LUSCOMBE DRINKS
B2B marketing newsletters
FIRSTLEAF
Wine regions, website copy
MORRISONS
Packaging copy
ROGER HARRIS WINES
Email marketing, wine stories
THE PERFECT CELLAR
Wine marketing, web copy, blogging
PHOMO
Website copy, brand consultation
EMBA COOKWARE
Website copy, blogs
NOBLE & WILD
Website copy and build, photography
COOK + THIEF
Website copy, menus, marketing, socials
THOUGHTFUL BAKERY
Branding, design strategy, menus, packaging, website
HEINEKEN
Marketing material
KERR CELLARS
Website copy
PIKE GLOBAL FOODS
B2B website copy, company story