"champion of the underdog...a fearsome campaigner...
a long-haired terrier biting the ankles of the financial establishment"
 
Nigel Blundell Saga Magazine September 2000
"Outstanding journalist. Presents complex issues in an engaging and thoughtful way."
Aon Consumer Pension and Investment Journalist of the Year 2006
"...a consummate and hard-hitting professional...
pressing [interviewees] firmly but politely when they're trying to wriggle out of questions"
Headline Money Awards 2005
"...ability to politely nail industry bosses to the studio wall"
Headline Money Awards 2004

"tough, inquisitive, but always fair"
ABI Financial Media Awards 2006

"a fearless and unnerving interviewer...
his journalistic record includes dogged pursuit of justice on behalf of readers and listeners."

Maria Scott The Observer 17 September 2000

 


What I Do Now

This is the current stuff. The historical - if not historic - material is in What I Have Done

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Broadcasting

Radio

I only wore the tie for the photo.
In fact I only bought the tie for the photo.

I do four things on Radio 4.

I present Money Box on BBC Radio 4 each Saturday at noon, repeated Sundays at 9pm. On its website there are archives going back to 2001.

I also present the phone-in Money Box Live on BBC Radio 4 on Monday afternoons, doing alternate monthly stints with my colleague Vincent Duggleby. Roughly speaking I do even months and Vincent does odds - but I do July, no-one does August and there are other exceptions.

I do some Money Box Investigates for BBC Radio 4
The Sins of Commission, 17 May 2005,  tackled the difficult issue of the use of commission as the main way of rewarding financial advisers. It asked if earning commission biases the advice they give, found some surprising views, and looked for alternatives. Produced by Jennifer Clarke.
The State Pension, 14 September 2004, examined the arguments for a radical reform of the state pension, paying it at a rate that would end means-testing. Produced by Jennifer Clarke. The programme won the 2005 Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media Award for Best Broadcast Programme.
The Price of Poverty, 20 April 2004, asked why the poorest people in Britain are charged the highest rates of interest when they borrow money and why isn't there a legal limit on the rate of interest lenders can charge - as there is in Germany. Produced by Jessica Dunbar. The programme won the 2004 Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media Award for Best Broadcast Programme.

Sometimes I am asked onto other programmes such as Woman's Hour, Analysis, Open Book or news programmes like Today and PM.

I am also a frequent contributor to Nicola Heywood Thomas's morning programme on Radio Wales commenting on personal finance matters and answering listeners' questions. Other local stations use me occasionally.

Television

I don't wear a tie on TV either. Usually. And why are the microphones so much smaller on television than on radio?
On most Saturdays I appear on Breakfast on BBC one talking about finance or consumer issues between 8.45 and 9am. By a happy coincidence for me (if not for them!) the audience usually peaks around that time. I also pop up from time to time on Breakfast or BBC News in the week - usually when there is a crisis.

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Magazines

I write regularly for Saga Magazine. Each month I have a double page Money Works feature on a personal finance issue. Usually one which readers can use to make, save, recover, or keep money.

I also write another three pages of Money News bringing together the important, the quirky, the interesting, and the useful things that have happened over the last month.

Occasionally I interview politicians or write general features.

Saga Magazine is the UK's premier publication for people over 50 with a circulation of well over one million and a readership probably double that.

I have written for Saga Magazine since it began in 1984 and several of my pieces and the campaigns we have run have won prizes.

Archive back to 1996

 

From May 2007 I write a monthly column in the care and social work magazine Community Care.

Complete archive back to 10 May 2007

In the spring of 2000 I began writing a monthly piece on investment and personal finance for the Reader's Digest, the UK's largest circulation subscription magazine. From the end of 2001, I wrote more occasional longer cover features on personal finance issues. These ended in 2003. But then in 2007 the call came again and the latest piece can be read in the....

...Complete Archive back to 2000

   

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Online
 

I contribute almost every week to the Your Money section of the BBC News website. The story normally appears around Saturday tea-time.
Complete archive
 
I write a weekly money column Lewis on the Web every Wednesday for the money section of the Saga website. I also write guides and occasional features for the website. Complete archive
 

 

Every Friday I write the most evanescent thing imaginable - an e-mail to tens of thousands of Money Box listeners telling them what's coming up in the programme. And if you've ever wondered if I'm an obsessive, stop it now. Because yes I do archive these e-mails as well. But don't get too excited they only go back to May 2006.
Complete archive
 

It's a curious bit of self-reference to mention it here but I also, of course, write and publish my own website - this one. It contains the biggest collection of Wilkie Collins material on the web, a new section on Strand on the Green which is still very rudimentary, as well as popular sections on Roman numerals and Victorian coinage. Here is its 10th anniversary strapline.

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Books

There are six books of mine that you can buy or order for your library.

 

Making Your Money Work for Your Future

Aimed at people aged 50 plus this guide explains how to have more money. First by boosting your income. And second by cutting your costs. And when those fail it looks at how to cope with those inevitable life events that come upon all of us at some time - especially in our fifties.

Published as part of Help the Aged's LifeGuides series.

At £8.99 it is a bargain. Order it from Help the Aged.

Or from Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making Your Money Work for Your Future Help the Aged, London 2008 ISBN 978-1-84598-028-3

Beat the Banks

Like Pay Less Tax this book does what it says. It evens the odds in the battle between you and your bank. And helps you make sure that your money works as hard for you now as you worked to get it in the first place.

It shows how six people of modest means can be hundreds of pounds a year better of by making simple changes to their banking savings and investing and all without taking (almost) any risk.

And it explains the subtle ploys the banks use to keep as much of our money as they can get away with.

A bargain at any price. And at £5.99 you're saving money already.

Click on the book to order through Age Concern.

Or order through Amazon

 

 

 

 

Beat the Banks, Age Concern Books, London 2008
ISBN 978-0-86242-431-2

Pay Less Tax

This book does what it says on the cover! It is the first in a new series by Age Concern and, like most of my books, it helps you save money. In this case by paying less tax. Less tax on your savings, less tax on your earnings, and less tax on your pension. It warns of the common traps that lead to many people paying too much tax. And don't think 'I'm not a taxpayer, I needn't worry about it'. If you have savings tax will be deducted without you knowing unless you tell the revenue to stop!

It's only £5.99 in bookshops - and even less online

Click on the cover to order it through Age Concern.

Click here to order it through Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pay Less Tax, Age Concern Books, London 2007
ISBN 978-0-86242-430-5

 

Live Long and Prosper

Live Long and Prosper is a pensions guide like none other you've read. Even if you've never read one. It tells you the date of your death, how your wages compare with everyone else's, and how much of them you should save up to be rich for the years you have left. Compared to a turtle anyway. The subtitle of the book might well have been

How to
retire rich,
without the
boring bits

It is really easy to buy this wonderful book - just click on the cover. It's only £12.99 but Amazon will charge you less and it will arrive in the post. 

Still not convinced?
  meet the author
Click the logo and I'll try to sell you a copy!

Live Long and Prosper, A&C Black, London 2006
ISBN 0-7136-7502-0

 

Money Magic

make debts disappear
and
earn money without working!

An alternative and sceptical guide to sorting our your finances, Money Magic was published in 2005. If you have ever wondered how much commission financial sales people earn, needed to borrow money at zero per cent, or save it at 5 per cent, wanted a list of the top seven financial scandals of the last 20 years, puzzled over the difference between saving and investing, or just thought 'where does all my money go?' then Money Magic will do the trick for you.

Also only £7.99 - and cheaper through Amazon

Click on the cover to buy it.

 

 

Money Magic, BBC Books, London 2005
ISBN 9 780563 522010

The Public Face of Wilkie Collins
Collected Letters

is rather different from my other books. It won't help you save money. In fact to buy it will probably cost you all you've saved with Money Magic.

It is the definitive edition of the letters of the great Victorian writer, Wilkie Collins. The editors scoured the world to track down almost 3000 letters, including more than 2000 which have never been published anywhere before. The volumes include extensive academic notes, a long introduction and two indices - mentioned because I particularly sweated over them..

Apart from his wonderful writing, Collins was an early pioneer of the rights of authors to their own intellectual property. He led an unconventional life with two women, had three children under a different name, and knew all the great literary and theatrical figures of his day. I edited this book with three colleagues - Professor Graham Law, Andrew Gasson, and Professor William Baker.

The Public Face of Wilkie Collins - The Collected Letters, Pickering & Chatto, London 2005. ISBN 1851967648, four vols £350 or $540. Members of the Wilkie Collins Society get a 30% discount, which means a big saving on the price after the £10 (EU) or £18 (elsewhere) membership fee.

 More information on the book. More information on joining the WCS.

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Leaflets

The great thing about leaflets is they're free. But still contain loads of useful stuff. You can download all these now for nowt. Sorry if my Northern roots are showing. Blame my hairdresser.

Money Matters - Tipping the scales in your favour is for people who are in their fifties and want to know how to plan ahead to retirement. For some people their fifties are debts, redundancy, and money worries. For others they have never been so well off as children leave and the mortgage is paid off. But whether your middle years are financially good or financially bad, they will certainly be different. Money Matters explains all those fiddly financial things you need to know in your fifties but didn't take much notice of before.

Published under the Heyday brand of Age Concern, you can download Money Matters free here.

Can You Claim It? explains the weird rules of means-tested benefits for people over 60 including Pension Credit, Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit. It includes the different systems in Northern Ireland as well as funeral payments and help with health costs. It is published each year by Help the Aged.

Call to get a free copy on 0808 800 6565.

Or download the latest version of the leaflet here. Click with the left mouse button to download it onto your screen now. Or click with the right mouse button and click on Save Target As to save the file to your computer.

Check Your Tax can save you money. Millions of people pay too much tax. This down to earth guide for people over 60 explains how to see if you are one of them. What income is liable to tax? How is it worked out? How do tax tax codes work? And it contains a guide to check tax so you can see if you have paid the right amount. It is published annually by Help the Aged.

Call to get a free copy on 0808 800 6565.

Or download the latest version of the leaflet here. Click with the left mouse button to download it onto your screen now. Or click with the right mouse button and click on Save Target As to save the file to your computer.


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Speaking and Hosting

As well as writing, I chair seminars and meetings, host awards presentations, and sometimes people are even foolish enough to ask me to make a speech. 

Some of the speeches are available on my archive pages. Links are given here to those that are.

At the moment I arrange my own engagements so please email me direct

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

In previous years I have hosted the Business MoneyFacts awards, the British Computer Society Management Awards and the MoneyFacts Awards.

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Awards

If I did JavaScript - which I don't - you would hear trumpets now. Specifically my own trumpet. Being blown by me. But I don't. So you will just have to imagine it. Here is a list of the moments when someone, somewhere thought that what I did was worth a prize.

 

2007 Money Box was the runner up in Broadcast Programme of the Year at the Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media Awards on 31 October 2007. Presented by BBC news presenter Sophie Raworth and, seen here, Steven Crawshaw Chief Executive of Bradford & Bingley. The top award was won by our colleagues on the Money Box team for the summer programme Inside Money om payment protection insurance.
2007 It's not really an award but I didn't know where else to put it. For reasons unknown I was one of the 1000 or so additions to the 2007 edition of the UK's most authoritative dictionary of contemporary biography Who's Who. It contains 32,000 lives and I think I can honestly say that every single one of the people who live them is better known than me! But if you want to see where I got my degrees or what my hobbies are, find this book in your library (or click on the image and buy it online for only £130.50!). The great thing is once you're in there you stay until you die. Then the fight is on to get selected to Who was Who.
2006 Barely a week after the ABI awards Money Box won Personal Finance Broadcast Programme of the Year at the prestigious Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media Awards on 1 November. Now in its 20th year, the judges in this doyen of awards said "the programme tackles important issues in a consumer friendly, interesting way." and "the judges commended the team  for  keeping  up  excellent  standards  and  providing thoughtful and trusted advice.". Here I am with assistant editor Chris A'Court, flanked by the Today Programme's Sarah Montague and Steven Crawshaw Chief Executive of Bradford & Bingley.
2006 26 October 2006 was a bit momentous. I was given a lifetime achievement award. Which is a bit odd because I have only been doing personal finance for 20 years not a lifetime and I am a long way from retiring! The Association of British Insurers have been running the Financial Media Awards for eleven years and for some reason the people who vote - financial services PR offices - decided now was the time to give me this award. The comment I liked best was "If you do not know your stuff, he will!" In fact it is exactly 20 years since I won my first award and gave up the day job to become a freelance financial journalist.
Walking up to get the award at The Dorchester Hotel
2006 At the same ABI Financial Media Awards Money Box was named Financial TV/Radio Programme of the Year. The judges said it was "Authoritative, topical and entertaining" and so it is. Not least because of the wonderful team of people who work on it. John Culshaw of Dead Ringers is on the left. And on the right is his impersonation of me.
2006 On 6 July I was named Consumer Pension and Investment Journalist of the Year by the global business consultancy, Aon. This is the first time I have won this 22 year old prize, though I was runner up in 2002. The ceremony, at Portcullis House in Westminster, was hosted by Sir John Butterfill MP.
Nigel Waterson MP (left) and
Aon chairman Ron Amy present the award
2005 On 9 November The State Pension, broadcast on 14 September 2004, was named Broadcast Programme of the Year at the Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media Awards 2005. The programme examined the arguments for replacing the state pension with a universal citizen's pension, fixed at a rate that would end means-testing, and found a surprising consensus. I wrote and presented the programme which was produced by Jennifer Clarke, seen here collecting the award with me. The judges said "the programme dealt a very important issue for all consumers in a very digestible manner."
2005 Money Box was named Financial TV/Radio Programme of the Year at the tenth ABI Financial Media Awards on 14 September. "tough, enquiring, but fair" the judges said and added "always lively and topical". Who can argue with that? 
2005 For the second year running I was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the headlinemoney Awards at Grosvenor House hotel for my work on Money Box - "a cracking good programme every Saturday". The judges said "lurking behind a personable, smooth and easy going style, Lewis is a consummate and hard-hitting professional." One nominator said "Paul knows just how to get the best out of interviewees - pressing them firmly but politely when they're trying to wriggle out of questions."
2004 On 10 November Money Box Investigates - the Price of Poverty won the Personal Finance Broadcast Programme category at the Bradford & Bingley Personal Finance Media awards. The programme looked at why the poorest people in Britain pay the highest rates of interest when they borrow and asked if the Government should put a limit on the rates of interest that can be charged. I wrote and presented the programme which was produced by Jessica Dunbar. The judges said "the programme dealt with a very important issue for all consumers in a very digestible manner.".  
2004 On 28 April I was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the headlinemoney.co.uk awards 2004 for "yet another brilliant year of Money Box interviews and investigations." and "his ability to politely nail industry bosses to the studio wall."
2003 Top broadcaster, and only purely radio broadcaster, in the Money Marketing Top 100 People with Power and Influence in Financial Services. Second among journalists, overall place 45th.
2003 Runner up in the Broadcast Journalist of the Year category at the headlinemoney.co.uk awards 2003
2002 Shortlisted in the Financial Media Awards for Personal Finance Broadcaster of the year. The awards are run by the Association of British Insurers
2002 Top broadcaster in the 2002 Money Marketing Top 100 People with Power and Influence in Financial Services. Overall place 47th.
2002 Pensions and Investment Journalist of the Year, Consumer Award, runner up. Sponsored by Aon Consulting. 


Pensions Minister Ian McCartney presents the award

  • 2001 my work on Equitable Life on Money Box won me the Broadcast Award in the British Insurance Broker's Association Journalist of the Year Award.
  • 1997 the series of Inside Money which I wrote and presented was commended in the Bradford & Bingley personal finance awards
  • 1996 a series of my articles in Saga Magazine won the Editorial Campaign of the Year at the PPA Magazines Awards
  • 1995 short-listed in the freelance category for the Bradford & Bingley personal finance awards
  • 1991 highly commended in the PPA Magazines Awards in the Consumer Writer category
  • 1991 short-listed in the magazine section of the Argos Consumer Journalist awards
 
1986 Argos Awards for Consumer Journalists - Winner Magazines. It was getting this prize in November 1986 - when journalism was just a hobby - that gave me the courage to give up the day job and go freelance as a full time writer.
 

My outlets also regularly win prizes

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Terms

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