Jo’s work
Jo has produced two series of ITV’s popular show MANHUNT, dramatising two high-profile police investigations by DCI Colin Sutton, played by Martin Clunes.
More of Jo’s work
Jo produced this six-part series for ITV, which aired in July/August 2016 and was a big ratings success.
Jo Willett
After a career as one of the UK’s best-known and most experienced freelance producers of TV comedy and drama, Jo has begun a second career writing historical biographies.
Her new book Sarah Siddons: The First Celebrity Actress was published in May 2024 by Pen & Sword Books. Her first book, The pioneering life of Mary Wortley Montagu, was published in March 2021.
Her TV career began on a then-new soap opera called Eastenders, before going on to executive produce series such as Pie in the Sky and Love Hurts. She won a BAFTA for A Rather English Marriage and an Emmy for Dirty Tricks. She produced the revival of the hit comedy Birds of a Feather for Retort/ITV and the series Brief Encounters for CPL/ITV.
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Stuart’s work
Between 2013-2015, Stuart was the editor-in-chief of this hugely successful coalition Government campaign focused on small to medium-sized enterprises.
Stuart was a co-founder and former editorial director of the private equity title Real Deals.
Stuart was a co-founder and editorial director of Real Business in 1997. It was the UK’s first magazine written specifically for entrepreneurs and directors of growing businesses.
Stuart was editor of the IoD magazine Director between 1989 to 1996.
Stuart Rock
For more than 30 years, Stuart has edited and written award-winning content – from books and magazines to articles and tweets. Read more about his current work on the Business page.
Conference chair
Chairing a conference requires careful preparation, good humour and being a stickler for time-keeping.
Stuart has chaired scores of conferences in his career, which have ranged from a networking event on a Virgin Train from Birmingham International to Euston for the Business is GREAT campaign to, more recently, the Zoom iteration of the ACG UK annual Economic & Political Outlook 2021 conference.
Awards compere
A business awards ceremony needs many things: slick organisation, a quality venue, generous sponsors and supportive partners, and a compere who can communicate the achievements of all the contestants – not just the winners – with warmth and intelligence. And the whole show needs to run on time. Stuart has been hosting business award ceremonies since the mid-1990s, such as the 2019 Heropreneurs Awards.
Awards creator
Stuart helped to create, run and host many publications, conferences and awards events. These include The First Women Awards in partnership with the CBI; the Women of the Future Awards and the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in partnership with their founder Pinky Lilani; and the Growing Business Awards. He has worked with the charity Heropreneurs to create and host the Heropreneurs Awards.
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