Jon Wainwright (Founder and Director) began his professional life at the Royal Society at a time when communication with authors and printers was via fixed-line telephony and the Royal Mail (submissions to the journals arrived in the post). There were no computers in the production office, and the worldwide web was still just a gleam in the eye of Sir Tim Berners-Lee. On the plus side, since authors regularly attended meetings and soirées at 6 Carlton House Terrace, there were always opportunities to meet them in person.

One reason the Society took on Jon, who had absolutely no experience in publishing, was that he did know something about TeX. This was increasingly being used by many of the contributors to Proceedings and Philosophical Transactions Series A, which focused on the physical sciences and mathematics. It was only a matter of time before the Society took the plunge and brought the editing and typesetting of these journals in house, with Jon at the helm.

There was no turning back, and once the new production methods were fully embedded, Jon left the Society in 1997 to set up T&T Productions. One of his first (and best) decisions was to bring Sam Clark (Director) on board as business partner. With a BSc and a PhD in chemistry from Imperial College, a smidgen of experience in the world of publishing (to pay the rent while he wrote up his thesis), and a general love of the written word, a formidable partnership with Jon was soon formed: a partnership that is still in place today, with Sam in day-to-day charge of running the business.

T&T Productions has survived several ups and downs over its two decades, in part down to planning and good management and in part down to luck, but in the main because of the loyalty and hard work of its employees. We’re proud of the company’s longevity, and also of our low staff turnover. After Jon and Sam, Emma Dain (Managing Editor) is the next longest-serving member of staff. Jon had actually hired her towards the end of his time at the Royal Society, where she soon progressed to being full production editor on Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. It was a few years later, in 2001, that she moved from the verdant environs of Green Park to the Bon Marché Centre in vibrant Brixton to join T&T. With a BSc in physics from the University of Portsmouth, Emma works on our economics, science and mathematics books, journals and reports, with occasional forays into law, philosophy and politics. Her skill set – including TeX typesetting, copy-editing, artwork and design, as well as proofreading and project management – became the template for all future T&T editors.

Ellen White (Journals Manager) joined us in 2014 and she manages our journals list. Ellen grew up in New Zealand and graduated from the University of Auckland with a degree in English Literature in 2011. She went on to receive a Diploma in Publishing the following year and has worked as a writer, editor and typesetter in companies in New Zealand and the UK since then. Always keen to add new strings to her bow, Ellen has honed her InDesign and Adobe Illustrator skills since being at T&T as well as becoming an expert mathematics typesetter, and has worked across a wide range of subject areas including economics and finance, international development, applied probability and the history of textiles! She is our key liaison with our biggest client.