Night job for a Daybreak star

Richard Gaisford, 39, is the chief correspondent on ITV1’s flagship programme Daybreak and he’s been around the world on some of the biggest stories.

But on Thursday, November 10, Richard will be taking a break from war zones and natural disasters to attend the Bedfordshire and Luton Business Excellence Awards at Park Inn, Bedford.

Richard’s career in journalism began during the first Gulf War, when he worked at ITN on both radio and television newsdesks.

He went on to work as a desk journalist at Sky News, and a reporter for Westcountry Television and the London Tonight programme.

Richard, who lives in Hampshire with his wife Emma, son Charlie and daughter Amy was the first television reporter on the scene of the Docklands bomb.

Aside from news reporting, Richard also acts as the expert on gadgets and new technology for GMTV.

In 2006 he went to Tokyo to film a series of special reports on how technology is changing our lives and later in the year travelled to South Korea to highlight how gadgets are part of family life in this technologically advanced country.

Since 2007, Richard has also covered the war in Iraq and filmed undercover reports in Zimbabwe.

Richard’s frontline reports from Iraq were seen daily on GMTV, BBC, ITN, Channel 4 and Channel 5, Sky, CNN, Fox, ABC and NBC amongst others.

Richard reported on the tsunami, the devastating earthquakes in Pakistan and the Pope’s death for GMTV. More recently, he travelled to Beirut to cover the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

When not working, he enjoys walking and spending time in the kitchen dreaming of becoming a chef.

Richard is set to provide amazing insights into the biggest events in recent history.

Rising Stars organiser Rebecca McCreath said: “It is sure to be a fascinating talk from someone who’s been at the heart of some truly big events.

“The whole night is certain to provide great entertainment as well as the opportunity to network with some of the best businesses in Bedfordshire and Luton.

“We’ve been inundated with entries from businesses in every corner of the county and Luton, and tickets are available now.”

l For tickets contact Christine Nunn by calling her on 01908 651 257 or emailing her on [email protected]