richard aucock

Richard Aucock is a motoring journalist, director at multimedia publisher Motoring Research and chair of the Guild of Motoring Writers, the world's largest motoring journalist association.

He has been involved in motoring communications since Year 10 at school in 1993.

He has been a working motoring journalist since 1998, when he joined the Guild after winning the prestigious Sir William Lyons award for aspiring young writers.

He joined Motoring Research full time three years later and has been there ever since, working up from Staff Writer to Managing Director.

A BRIEF BIO

Richard's first words were printed when he was 15, in the Italian Car Club's Auto Italia magazine. He drove a Fiat Cinquetento at the club's annual show in an autotest. He won. He hasn't looked back.

His first road test car was a Fiat too, a borrowed Bravo from the local dealer. He wrote this while at College in Stourbridge, writing for the local newspaper about Stourbridge BTCC driver Matt Neal at the same time.

Matt helped Richard win the Sir William Lyons award, by agreeing to an interview with the nervous 18 year old. This was half of Richard's entry: the other half was a feature piece, which he wrote on supercars. Two years earlier, he'd written about a journey in the future, which won him the Guild's IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future prize, his first major award.

Richard continued his efforts to become a motoring journalist while at the University of Birmingham, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. When he wasn't, he was reporting for Club Autosport, or writing for Truck & Van Mart, or typing features for Jaguar Monthly.

Such freelance work saw him begin to write for Motoring Research. His first project was on the MSN Cars site. He joined as a full-time staffer soon after and has been there full-time ever since, working on the MSN Cars project throughout.

Today, Richard is director of the publishing agency, helping it develop and expand in the fast-evolving digital world of motoring editorial.

Richard remains on the Guild Committee too, with a second stint as chair, where he helps modernise the organisation, create new opportunities for young and aspiring writers, boost the Guild's profile and improve the integrity of its membership criteria.