Simon Mennell is a bestselling British author, global executive, and founder of Westow Publishing Ltd. His debut memoir, Shattered Norms – A Punk’s Journey to the Boardroom, reached #2 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases and secured a place on the Amazon Best Sellers list, leading to national recognition including a featured interview on BBC Radio.

Alongside his writing career, Simon has held senior leadership roles across Financial Services and regulated industries, with professional experience spanning the UK, Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, and the Channel Islands. This global career strongly informs his storytelling, which often explores identity, reinvention, and the consequences of choice.

His published fiction spans genres and settings, with titles including Phuket, Let’s Golf (which reached #4 in its Amazon bestseller category), the sci-fi series Dream Agents, and the contemporary drama We Almost Had Forever. Two of his books have been featured in the award-winning UK publication The Table Read Magazine, further establishing his reputation as a distinctive and versatile voice.

His latest novel, The Cottage at the Edge of Time, is his most ambitious work to date — a haunting, atmospheric time-slip story set between York, Cornwall, and late-18th-century France.

Simon lives in Yorkshire with his family, dividing his time between the UK and Thailand. When he isn’t writing, he can be found golfing, flying gliders, or exploring new ideas for future stories.

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Lewis Gell is a nationally recognised safeguarding consultant, trauma recovery specialist,and victim of institutional child abuse. As the founder of The Forgotten Boys, he has spent over 35 years transforming lived experience into frontline expertise, supporting some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and adults.

Sent to a pre-Borstal Remand Home at the age of ten, Lewis has gone on to influence national safeguarding policy and practice. His lived-experience insight has contributed to the work of the Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice, NWG Network, and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse.

His voice has helped shape national conversations on victim-led safeguarding, historic child abuse, and justice reform, through focus groups, strategic panels, and collaborative policy projects.

Lewis is also the author of a respected series of professional white papers addressing institutional abuse, youth custody, safeguarding failures, and trauma-informed recovery. These papers are used by universities, legal teams, social care agencies, and policymakers seeking to understand and reform the legacy of systemic abuse.

A qualified NLP Practitioner, CBT Therapist, and Recovery Strategist, Lewis specialises in working with men impacted by historic child abuse and exploitation. His work bridges the gap between victims and services, restoring trust, amplifying unheard voices, and driving cultural change from the inside out.

The Forgotten Boys: A Borstal Legacy brings his story to the page with brutal honesty, deep compassion, and a call to action. Part memoir, part professional insight, this book is both a tribute to victims and a vital resource for professionals committed to understanding and confronting the legacy of institutional harm.

“Remember, in all honesty, I’m not an author, editor or publisher. Just a maladjusted kid and a forgotten boy. I went from victim to professional. I am a bridge, a professional, and victim to professionals.”