Keith Findlay

About

I've been on the business desk at the P&J in Aberdeen since early 2003, including a long spell in a deputy role, having previously worked for weekly newspapers. I'm a specialist in oil and gas, fishing industry, aviation, whisky, commercial property and personal finance. As the longest serving business journalist primarily covering the north and north-east of Scotland of any daily newspaper, I know the region's firms and the people behind them better than most in this industry. I arrived in Aberdeen not really knowing what to expect and am eternally grateful to the P&J's deputy editor at the time for giving me the chance. It was about the last thing she did before she took flight to a new job in Leicester! Since then, I've worked with a string of talented people on the business desk (special mention here to the late Joe Watson, who was business and farming editor when I joined). My professional experience includes all manner of news stories for the weeklies and some pretty significant reports on business matters for the P&J. Aberdeen has several blue-chip companies and I've regularly interviewed big-hitters on the local and wider corporate scene. "Celebrity" moments include interviews with Michael Portillo, George Osborne, Kenneth Clarke, Henry McLeish, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. I've reported on major events in the oil and gas industry through its highs and lows. Specialities: Diverse business experience but I particularly like transport/aviation, whisky industry food firms and oil and gas work. I also cover news from the fishing industry, or what is left of it after years of quota cuts.I have written more about this industry than any other mainstream newspaper.