A nightclub encounter and my return to Birmingham

Birmingham is where my journalism career began. I was 27 and after a stint as a civil servant and teaching English in Colombia, this was a new chapter for me. I remember my first few weeks in the city, hitting up retro-themed pubs in Digbeth, and venturing out for long walks in Sutton Park.

I was studying data journalism at Birmingham City University, funded by the Guardian’s Scott Trust Bursary, which had opened up the door to a career path that I had dreamed about but previously felt was unaffordable for me. And something else fortuitous happened when I arrived in Birmingham: a new publication launched promising to publish a different kind of local reporting.

I first heard about The Dispatch via my university course leader, and I excitedly wrote to Kate, its founding editor, asking if I could do some work experience. That wasn’t possible so early on in its life, but I did end up collaborating with Kate on one story. I found The Dispatch’s approach to journalism exciting, and I remember being hooked by the long read on rise and fall of Gurpaal Judge.

After graduating, I went back to London to work at the Guardian, and soon stumbled on a story that would take over my life for over a year. It came about from chatting to an American guy with a goofy laugh, who I met on the dancefloor of the iconic London nightclub, Fabric. 

He told me about a networking event he had been to in Greece. Picture yachts, fancy dinners, founders with bright ideas and handshakes with very wealthy investors (60 to be precise) on a dazzling Greek island. And now picture the face of someone who had been promised such luxury, and after flying 5000 miles across the Atlantic ocean, was met with a very different (and rather perplexing) reality.

Amidst a backdrop of strobe lights and techno music, I was told about taxi drivers working for the organiser of this event going on strike because they hadn’t been paid. People being chucked out of hotel rooms because the hotels hadn’t been paid. Founders pitching to other founders, with no real investors present. And at the centre of it: a glamorous, seemingly very successful businesswoman. 

The conversation in the nightclub set me on a year-long investigation into dot-com queen, Julie Meyer, which was recently published as a two-part Guardian podcast and a long read in the paper’s Saturday magazine. It was a thrilling journey, full of learning curves, and just as the investigation was about to hit the papers, I had another exciting chat.

I wasn’t in a nightclub this time, but Joshi, founder of Mill Media, had called me to let me know I had landed a job as staff writer at The Dispatch, the publication that first inspired me to do investigative, narrative journalism.  

A few years later, and with many stories under my belt at the Guardian, I am thrilled to return to the city where my journey into journalism first began. Of course, I am now armed with the knowledge that solid reporting involves a lot of time and a lot of  resources. For the Meyer investigation, I worked with multiple reporters, editors and producers. We spoke to over 40 people to help us uncover a trail of unpaid bills and missing money spanning multiple countries. My focus now is to write important stories that get beneath the skin of Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Please get in touch with me to help me do that, by offering story tips and insights into the city from the job you do or the board you sit on or the scandal you heard about on the bus yesterday. My nightclub tale has taught me that good stories come from speaking to as many interesting people as possible, and that’s going to be my approach in this great city. If you fancy giving me stories on dancefloors, that would be great, but an email is also fine. 

Coming up this weekend: we delve into the process of bringing the West Midlands bus network under 'public control'. Will it be a success to rival Andy Burnham's famous Bee Network? That will be in your inbox on Saturday morning.