By Lou Thomas
The new managing editor of BBC Radio Shropshire has said he would like to hear "less predictable voices from the community" on air when he takes over at the station.
Tim Beech will take over from Tim Pemberton, now managing editor of BBC Radio Bristol, on 18 April. Beech joins the station from BBC Radio Stoke, where he has been assistant editor for three years. BBC Radio Shropshire had a weekly reach of 114,000 listeners, according to the last Rajar figures.
Beech said: "I want to hear more different and less predictable voices from the community."
He added: "An example of that might be a programme we’ve got at the weekend that is just about people’s stories. We’ve had a man on last weekend who still delivers coal. Now it’s pretty rare these days, so who does he deliver it to? How on earth does he stay in business? Why did he become a coalman in the first place? Now that’s a story that reflects our community’s life. That’s the kind of material I’d like to hear more of."
Beech started his broadcasting career in commercial radio before moving to BBC WM in 1989 as a broadcast journalist. From there he became sports editor at the station, a position he held for eight years.
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