Steph went from Black & Decker engineer to BBC Breakfast business reporter and co-presenter before presenting her own Channel 4 show and co-hosting The Rest is Money podcast with Robert Peston. She also fronted Watchdog, Pocket Money Pitch, Made in Great Britain, and Shop Well For Less - covering all aspects of real life business and economics. In the process she’s been trained in lean production, explained monetary and economic policy, and danced an impromptu Irish jig live on air.
Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Steph McGovern co-hosts the The Rest Is Money with Robert Peston, where they explore the economic issues that affect our everyday lives, decode business jargon, and revisit some of the biggest financial events of the last half century. A frequent host and contestant on Have I Got News For You, Steph is also a regular guest on TV and radio panel shows. She also presented Steph's Packed Lunch, Channel 4’s live daily lunchtime magazine show.
Working in financial journalism for over fifteen years, with eight years on BBC Breakfast, Steph travelled all over the UK covering economic news and broadcasting live from over five hundred businesses. Whether speaking to factory workers or FTSE 100 CEOs, Steph’s mission was to uncover and explain the real economy. She continued that work on her Channel 4 show, with regular features such as her Small Business Market and Job Clinic.
Away from news, Steph launched her own CBBC show looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs, Pocket Money Pitch. On BBC Two’s Made in Great Britain she joined 21st century makers exploring the skills and industries that built the nation. She co-hosted five series of the BBC One show Shop Well For Less, and four series of the consumer rights institution Watchdog. She also joined Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to present the BBC One health show Easy Ways to Live Well.
Before becoming an on-air correspondent, Steph was the lead producer of financial news for the BBC, working with then Business Editor Robert Peston at the forefront of the award-winning coverage of the credit crunch and banking crisis. She soon began broadcasting herself, and delivered the business news on 5Live, Radio 4 and on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 before gaining a fulltime role on BBC Breakfast.
Originally from Middlesbrough, Steph started as an apprentice engineer at Black & Decker where, aged nineteen, she won the title of Young Engineer for Britain before studying at University College London.
Outside broadcasting Steph is involved in community and education projects. She is a mentor for young people in her native Teesside and runs workshops with schoolchildren around the North East. Steph is a patron of the charity Rubies, supporting disadvantaged children, and is a former champion Irish dancer.
Steph’s a perfect combination of ‘plugged in’ and ‘credible’ – while remaining utterly down to earth. I’ve seen her demystify financial markets for grey-suited conference delegates and whoop up a roomful of excited awards contenders. It’s a fabulous sight to witness. I’m certain Ms McGovern’s profile is on a swift upward trajectory…
JLA Agent Siobhan Jackman