Penelope Ody is a freelance journalist who has written about retailing and information technology for more than 30 years – joining “Retail and Distribution Management” in 1973 and later moving to  “Drapers Record” before going freelance in 1983.

As a freelancer she has worked for many leading newspapers and business journals in the UK and overseas and also edited “Retail Automation” from 1985 to 1996. In 1998 she launched “Retail Solutions” for Emap: this quarterly magazine soon grew into a monthly section incorporated within “Retail Week” before becoming weekly under an in-house editor. She continues to write regularly for numerous publications including: “Drapers”, “Logistics Europe”, “Retail Systems” and “FT-Digital Business”.

Penelope Ody frequently chairs and moderates retail and business conferences as well as giving presentations at both corporate and public seminars on retail trends and future technology developments. Over the years she has written corporate marketing material – such as white papers, positioning documents, corporate brochures and case studies – for almost all the major retail IT vendors and also undertakes media training and retail briefings. She is always happy to discuss new commissions and can be contacted at info@penelopeody.com.

In the 1980s she qualified as a medical herbalist and practised part-time for 11 years. She has written some 20 books on herbal topics and edited The Herb Society’s journals from 1988 to 1994. She continues to write regularly about herbs and health topics – including a regular column for “Healthy” – and lectures at various herb courses and seminars. She also runs day courses on herbal topics at her home in Hampshire. For more information on her books and herbal activities go to www.herbcourses.co.uk