Salary: £27,000–£33,000 depending on experience
Deadline: July 4 - but we will start interviewing before deadline, so early applicants at an advantage.
Start date: ASAP
About SWNS
SWNS is the UK’s biggest independent news agency. Every day hundreds of stories, images and videos from SWNS are published and broadcast across the national and international media.
Our clients are the biggest news publishers in the world – Reach, DMGT, News UK, Independent, Times Online, Mail Online, BBC, ITN, The Times, Yahoo! and USAToday to name a few.
We cover breaking news, amazing human interest stories, consumer issues, health and scientific breakthroughs, and provide websites around the world with stunning imagery and viral videos.
SWNS is 50 years old but we are proud to be constantly evolving to meet the needs of our clients around the world. That is why we were named Best Commercial Partner at the 2025 Press Awards last month.
The Role
We're looking for our first dedicated consumer reporter – to create content for our news wire on how people earn, spend and save their money.
This role will focus on uncovering human interest and lifestyle stories within the consumer and money sectors.
We aren’t looking for someone to turn around press releases or re-write stories already out there. The ideal candidate will thrive on creating original stories from scratch.
You will be able to monitor trends and emerging issues and then create stories – with a strong human interest focus.
You will have experience researching and reporting on consumer issues – from scams and mortgages, to bills and cost of living.
The ideal candidate will be able to turn around clean and accurate copy at speed, as well as work on longer form investigative stories.
Our consumer reporter will be at home writing about savvy shoppers and bargain holidays as well as consumer rights and business.
Almost everything we write is ‘people first’, so the role will involve talking to people from all walks of life, and sourcing case studies to bring money and consumer issues to life.
We have dedicated pictures and video teams, but you should be able to source visual assets.
You will be fully supported, but as our first – and only! - consumer writer you will be relied on to generate your own stories. You will be expected to collaborate with editors and the wider team to develop story ideas and angles, and produce content for our news wire every day.
You will largely focus on UK stories, but also content for the US market and beyond.
Some weekend working required – at present reporters work around one Saturday or Sunday every five or six weeks.
You will be based at our HQ in Bristol.
Successful candidates will have to live and work in or near Bristol but have the flexibility of hybrid working – currently three days a week in the office - once they are settled into the role.
Requirements
* Minimum of two years' experience writing for a mainstream digital or print publication, whether local, national, or international.
* Proven ability to generate original story ideas in the consumer sector and work independently. Please send examples in your application.
* Strong interest in consumer and retail topics, with at least one year experience in the field.
* Excellent writing, research, and interview skills.
* Proficiency in using social media platforms to source stories.
* A collaborative mindset, with the ability to work effectively within a team. We’re competitive with rivals when we need to be, but not with each other. You must be a team player – able to accept help, and help others at all levels.
* You must be flexible. We are always changing what we do to meet the needs of our clients.
* We won’t micromanage you, so you must be a self-starter who is happy to work hard to see your content used by publications around the world.
* Eligibility to work in the UK.
Desirable
* NCTJ qualification or equivalent.
Why Join SWNS?
At SWNS, you'll be part of a supportive and driven team that values originality and integrity in storytelling. We do not curate, scrape or aggregate material - we source and create stories from scratch, or syndicate original material from our partners or copyright owners.
We offer flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to see your work published across a range of high-profile platforms.
Our collaborative environment encourages continuous learning and professional growth. We are a small ish team - about 70 in the UK - so your voice will be heard in editorial and strategic direction of the business.
Extra details
SWNS is a national living wage employer.
Recent studies show most UK journalism industry professionals come from white ethnic groups (92%) and from professional or upper-class backgrounds (80%). We want to continue to do our part to change this and welcome candidates from all backgrounds.
Please send your CV to jobs@swns.com with the email title ‘CONSUMER REPORTER” FAO Laura Elvin and Harriet Rose-Gale.
Please include
* A covering letter explaining how you fit the criteria above and why you want to work at SWNS – we are unlikely to consider you without one!
* Examples of your consumer work
* We’d love to hear one or two story ideas you would pitch as a consumer writer at SWNS which you think would work for our clients.