Alison Cork

Alison Cork is a British entrepreneur, writer and broadcaster.

After graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge, with a degree in Classics, Alison started publishing restaurant guides in university towns throughout the UK. She then co-founded Carnell Ltd, a mail order publishing company, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, making her one of the youngest ever board directors of a publicly quoted company. Whilst running Carnell plc, Alison wrote her first book, Profit Through The Post (Piatkus), about how to set up and run a mail order business, which was voted Book of the Month by Mensa.

She followed this with The Streetwise Guide to Renovating Your Home (Piatkus), at which point she left Carnell plc to pursue a career in writing and broadcasting. In 1996 she presented her first TV series, The Christmas Show, for Carlton Westcountry Television. 1997 she wrote and presented her first network TV series, Home In The Country (ITV), a lifestyle series that spanned cookery, creative inspiration and interiors. This was followed by several other series, including Countdown To Christmas (Five), Domestic Magic (Five), Don’t Move, Improve (ITV), 60 Minute Makeover (ITV) and Help I Hate My House (ITV).