Anne Benson

An experienced food journalist and PR professional, Anne Benson has been writing about local and regional food for more than 13 years.

She is the food writer for liverpool.com magazine and has written for the North West Enquirer on a variety of food issues and done a series restaurant reviews for Metro newspaper.

For six years she wrote a weekly column on North West of England and North Wales food for the Daily Post, which circulated through Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales, and has also been published in the Daily Express and Seafood magazine.
She has also written restaurant reviews for Metro newspaper and had a regular column in the North West Enquirer.

As a restaurant reviewer and wine critic she has written for the North West Evening Mail, the Halifax Evening Courier, the Daily Post, www.taste.co.uk and was one of the team who wrote the Dining Out in Wales guide, published in March 2004. She wrote the Merseyside section for the North West Food Lovers’ Guide, along with other chapters, and has judged the North West Producer of the Year and North West Young Chef of the Year competitions. She is a contributor to Home Grown, a book celebrating North West food champions.

She is Chairman and publicity officer for Wirral Farmers Market, a voluntarily run enterprise, which now has the reputation of being one of the best in the North West. In 2005 it won the British Urban Regeneration Association award for its contribution to regenerating the area of New Ferry, where it is based. In 2007 it was voted the 'Best Farmers' Market in the UK' at the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards.

She was awarded the Wirral Tourism Ambassador Award in 2007 for her work with local and regional foodand the Leapfrog Award for her contribution to promoting North West food in 2008.

She was also responsible for setting up the first ever Wirral Food and Drink Festival, which was held in August 2006 attracting 14,000 visitors and received major coverage in local and regional media. In 2007 the Festival attracted 23,000 people and has gone from strength to strength.