A REPORTER who launched his journalism career at the Jersey Evening Post has received a nomination in the business category at next week’s British Press Awards.

Stephen Foley (33), who is now based in New York as The Independent’s US business correspondent, is one of eight people to be nominated in the Business and Finance Journalist of the Year category.

The annual awards are organised by the Press Gazette and take place in London next Tuesday.

Mr Foley worked at the JEP in the mid-1990s, during his year out. He then went on to study history at Cambridge University’s Kings College before taking a journalism course in London.

After briefly working for Sky News’s website he joined The Independent’s team in 1999. He worked in a number of roles, including stock market reporter, and became their US business correspondent three years ago.

‘This is the most fun role that I have done,’ said Mr Foley. ‘It is extremely varied. It is also an extremely exciting time to be covering American business. The financial crisis is the biggest story of my life.’

Mr Foley, who returns to Jersey to see his family a couple of times a year, said that he has been in love with New York since he first went there ten years ago. In the Business and Finance Journalist of the Year category he is up against journalists from The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Daily Mail.

‘I’m very proud of the nomination,’ said Mr Foley. ‘It would be great to win, but the main thing is that it is just a great joy to be nominated.’

• Picture: Stephen Foley