Contact details:

LinkedIn - Chris Burn
Bluesky - @chrisburn.bsky.social
Threads - @chrisburn1987

The main beats that I cover are:

I oversee our team of business and features reporters - it tends to be the case when writing stories myself they are more usually on the business side of things.

So don’t waste time telling me about...:

We do cover national business news, as we do with general news, but for us to develop a story properly there generally has to be a genuine Yorkshire connection to stories - either the individual or organisation being based here or affected by the issue being discussed.

The biggest influence on my journalism career to date is:

The Yorkshire Post’s editor James Mitchinson has really believed in me and encouraged me to be the best reporter I can be ever since I first started working for him at The Sheffield Star over a decade ago now. At the start of my career when I got my first journalism job at the Shropshire Star, I also learned a huge amount from the way more experienced reporters went about their work.

They’ve both left for the PR world now but I’d definitely highlight Russell Roberts and John Kirk for that. I’ve been lucky to work with lots of brilliant people over the years committed to the importance of regional journalism and there’s probably so many more I could and should mention!

From your work so far, if you had to pick the story you are most proud of, what would it be, and why?

I’d have to say my recent coverage of the Philips Trust scandal involving hundreds of building society customers whose life savings and houses were put at risk after investments they had made in good faith became mired in financial complications. It was an incredibly complex story to get my head around and get right in the first instance. For our continued coverage to then have hopefully contributed something towards the building societies involved agreeing to fully compensate the victims despite having no legal or regulatory responsibility to do so was very special.

Congratulations on your success at the 2024 Headlinemoney Awards! How did you feel when you were announced as the winner?

It was a lovely surprise and not something I had been expecting. It was one of the final awards in the evening and having seen the amazing journalists who had won in other categories really helped bring home that being chosen was a real achievement. I’d also been a judge in a different category so I knew how much thought and care goes into picking a winner, which again helped make it special.

The piece of advice I'd give to someone starting out in financial journalism is:

Don’t be scared to say you don’t understand something. It is much better to tell someone ‘Sorry for my ignorance, but what does ‘x’ or ‘y’ mean and how does it work in practice?’ than try and blag it before coming to write a story and realise you don’t understand what you are trying to explain to readers. There are so many different elements to the financial world that you won’t know everything, particularly when starting out.

The best/worst times for PRs/press offices to contact me are:

We tend to be planning and evolving our coverage for that day online and the next day’s print edition between 7.30am and 11am so that can be good. But mornings also tend to be busy with various meetings to squeeze in. If you’ve got a great story you’d like in print, it is best to have a couple of days’ notice so we can fit it in around other stuff. Often what works best for us is interview opportunities with senior figures we can speak to about their results/job announcements or
store openings, etc.

The financial interview I’d most like to arrange is:

It has got to be Elon Musk hasn’t it? For good or ill, he’s having a major impact on our world at the moment. Might need a bit of time to think about the Yorkshire angle would be though!

The piece of financial services research I’d most like to read is:

I’m intrigued by how many businesses have introduced AI and made genuine efficiency/financial improvements or not as the case may be. There’s a lot of bold claims being made about what it can do so it would be interesting to see the evidence.

What was the last article you read that really shocked you?

Not financially related at all but Mike Atherton’s very moving interview in The Times with Graham Thorpe’s family which revealed he has taken his own life really stopped me in my tracks.

My view on the humble press release and how it could be improved is that:

I guess decisions on what will get coverage boils down to asking what is new, different and relevant to our audience about this story. If your press release/pitch can answer that well, it has got a good chance.

What's something about you that people would be surprised to know?

People always seem surprised when they find out I’ve got three children! I’m very lucky to have a wonderful family life.

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Hard choice but probably In Rainbows by Radiohead.

Finally, if you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It’s terribly boring to say pizza but I’m going to anyway. Not sure I’d fancy it for every meal though.

View all the Headlinemoney Awards 2024 winners here.