Plain Language Awards

Celebrate the stories of our clearest business communicators

Co-lead judge: Best Plain Language Annual Report

Emma Fossey


Writer and editor, Reporting for Business, Edinburgh, Scotland

What do happy readers, soybeans, and trees have in common? There’d be an awful lot more of them if we all used plain language (soybeans are used to make ink, trees to make paper)!

Hello. I’m Emma, and I’ve been writing and editing documents of one sort or another for over 30 years. In a career spanning academia, central government, and the public sector, I had plenty of opportunities to experience the misery of unplain language first-hand! Thus inspired, I set up my company — Reporting for Business Ltd — to provide a range of professional writing, editing, and training services.

Our aim is to convert as many companies as possible to the joys of plain language. Why? Quite simply, because information is most effective when it is presented clearly, concisely, and considerately.


Meet the judges for the Plain Language Awards

How the judging process works