Cheryl Robertson is a freelance journalist and author. Currently she writes feature and news articles for both trade and consumer press, and also undertakes special projects including column writing and compiling supplements and brochures.

She was born in Bulawayo (meaning ‘place of slaughter’ in the local Ndebele language) in Zimbabwe. In 1978 she became a “cub” reporter on The Rhodesia Herald, the country’s national daily newspaper. After a spell of travelling in the Middle East and Europe, she joined The Star national daily newspaper in Johannesburg, South Africa as a news and feature writer. Later she also worked in the photographic department and using both talents she created various supplements as well. Her last assignment with the newspaper was to travel for six months in a Dragoman overland bus from London, UK to Johannesburg via 14 African countries.

Cheryl returned to Zimbabwe in 1985 to join Thomson Publications in Harare as the editor of a monthly magazine for the motor trade. She also edited one-off supplements and various quarterly trade magazines. She then moved to the UK where she became assistant editor of an EMAP monthly trade magazine based in Croydon, representing the magazine at all industry events in Europe.

She later joined a public relations and marketing company in Crawley, West Sussex, as a Public Relations Executive where she was responsible for compiling product brochures, organising functions and exhibitions and generally gaining media exposure in the UK and abroad for the company’s clients.

Later on she and ITEC tutor and cosmetic formulator Maurene Charlwood wrote a book called “Cosmetic Watch: Lifting the lid off cosmetic ingredients” which was published by Elliott Right-Way Books Ltd in 2001 in the UK.

Cheryl has been living in Dubai since 2002. For a number of years she was editor of the Al Hilal Publishing Group’s monthly travel trade magazine Travel & Tourism News Middle East (TTN).