Interview with Craig Smith (CRS Editorial)
Tell me about yourself:
Well, I’m Craig Smith from Leeds – a 43-year-old lover of all things sport, exercise, travel and nature. If I’m not enjoying sport in-person, then I’ll be glued to the TV watching it.
The natural world has always interested me. I’m a big fan of nature programmes on TV, learning all the time. I also like to walk and run, and am aiming for 150 parkruns before the year is out.
Tell me about your business:
CRS Editorial is the name of my editing, proofreading and copywriting business, formed in October 2020 following redundancy from my previous role, where I was an editor for over 15 years.
The strapline of CRS Editorial is ‘Making words work for you’. Put simply, I love helping people with their words and take great satisfaction from teaming up with authors, web designers, book publishers, magazine owners and fellow businesses to collaborate on projects.
My business was voted New Business of the Year in 2021 and selected as a Small Business Sunday winner by none other than Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis in September 2022!
I’m a Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
How old is your business?
My business will be four on 1st October 2024.
What would you say is the best part of owning your business?
There are many enjoyable parts to owning my own business, such as meeting new people all the time.
I suppose one of the highlights would be the freedom to make my own decisions. For instance, I wanted to find a solution to those long hours behind the desk, not just for me, but also for many other businesses in the area. So, I set up a netwalking event which takes place once a month at a picturesque local park. We meet year-round, enjoy a nice stroll around the park and lake before going for coffee and continuing the great conversations.
What is one unusual fact about your business?
Unusual? Hmm, let me think…
…I’m not sure, so I’ll let other people answer this!
What would you say is the highlight of your work so far?
Being selected as a Small Business Sunday (#SBS) winner and meeting Theo Paphitis was pretty cool. For those on X(formerly Twitter) or Instagram, I can highly recommend entering!
I’ve worked on some real passion projects too, such as proofreading a book about the rugby league team I follow (Leeds Rhinos), as well as working closely with many authors and businesses on their fantastic projects.
Are you owned by any animals?
Despite being a dog and cat lover, I’m actually allergic, which is a real shame! That said, I sometimes ‘take a chance’ with the allergy because we’ve got some beautiful animals around where we live.
I sponsor a rhino in Kenya called Lankeu and a family of tigers in the Khata Corridor between Nepal and India if that counts!
How can everyone get in touch with you?
There is my website
www.crseditorial.co.uk where you can read more about the kinds of things I do and the people I work with.
I’m on email at
If people would like to connect with me (Craig Smith) and my business (CRS Editorial) on LinkedIn, X or YouTube, then it’d be great.
Thank you!
Visit www.crseditorial.co.uk where you can find out more about Craig and also get in touch.