Large copywriting agencies in London may well charge more for their services, given the fact that working from the capital city attracts bigger overheads, but they certainly do not provide a better standard of service than freelance copywriters based elsewhere. Agencies are the same all over the UK; there are good ones and bad ones. The same apples to freelance copywriters. As a business owner you just have to be very careful who you choose to work with the same as you would with any other supplier.
There is a huge difference between proofreading and editing service. Many people are often unclear as to what type of service they require. Editing generally consists of making revisions to and suggestions about the actual content of the text. Not only does this include checking and making changes to spelling and grammar, editing also focuses on improving the accuracy of the language being used, the flow of the copy and the overall readability of the document. Editing involves a really detailed review of the paper that searches for consistency in either fiction or factual writing.
Proofreading is not such an in-depth analysis of a document. Proofreading is generally the process of checking and correcting grammar, spelling and punctuation errors in a document as well as spotting and amending typographical errors. Using the spellchecking feature on a computer, however, is not enough to guarantee accuracy and quite often results in embarrassing mistakes because of a computers inability to detect anomalies. It is all too easy for a computer to make a faulty assumption about certain anomalies such as grammar, sentence structure, embedded information and industry specific terminology.
A business simply cannot rely on a computer to ensure that the messages they are sending out to the world at large will not be an embarrassment to their brand. Although editing and proofreading are often confused, as some levels of service overlap between the two, do not confuse this further with a document writing service. An editor or proof-reader will not write your document for you simply because you cannot be bothered. If you do not have the time, skills or expertise to write a document yourself, invest in the services of a professional copywriter; this way the text will be edited and proofread before it is returned to you for use.
Editing and proofreading requires different sets of skills; the beauty of this is that freelance copywriters, form anywhere in the UK, can help you with your business documents. You do not need to use a local company or a big firm if you do not want to. Many businesses use a freelance copywriter that can carry out any work ad-hoc without having to pay costly fees. This is something you should consider if you want to avoid damaging your brand with embarrassing grammatical errors.