Jess is a London-based historian with a particular interest in business history and in how companies develop, communicate and reinvent themselves over time. Her varied career has taken her through the commercial world, archives, libraries, universities and museums, giving her an unusually broad perspective on the ways in which historical research can be put to practical use.

A specialist in twentieth-century history, Jess’s research encompasses business, technology, consumer culture, communications and design. She is equally comfortable following a story further back when a project demands it, and has researched businesses and entrepreneurs from the early modern period to the present day. Her work has included extensive private-sector research into entrepreneurship, retailing and the development of the commercial internet, as well as several research fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. She is best known as the author of Protective Practices: A History of the London Rubber Company (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020).

Jess is particularly interested in the material and visual life of businesses: the products and objects they make, the ways they present themselves, and how their identities and communications change over time. Alongside research and writing, she brings experience in archives and digitisation, public speaking, editing, exhibitions, communications and project organisation.

Before becoming a historian, Jess spent nearly a decade working backstage as a performance technician in London’s West End theatres, an experience which left her with an enduring preference for practical solutions, collaborative working and getting things done. Born and bred in London and based in Chelsea, Jess has a particular affection for the capital’s historic businesses and institutions, and for the material traces they leave behind.

Jess holds a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London, an MA in Historical Research with distinction from the Institute of Historical Research, and a first-class degree in Film Studies from the University of Kent, alongside qualifications in graphic design and video production. She is a Freeman of the Stationers’ Company in the City of London.