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January 5, 2016

Biggin Hill News free newspaper group turns 50 with growing profits thanks to ‘hyper-local’ strategy

By Dominic Ponsford

A newspaper group which publishes 12 free weekly newspaper titles in Kent is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Biggin Hill News was acquired by Tindle Newspapers 30 years ago and employs three journalists producing various localised editions of the Bromley Borough and County Border News.

The titles have a combined free distribution of just under 50,000 copies and have been in profit every year since 2012. In common with the other newspapers in the Tindle empire, they have not made any editorial redundancies as a result of the post 2008 economic downturn.

General Manager Paul Kerr said: "Over the past four years the company has pursued a hyper-local strategy, both in terms of our editorial focus and our sales efforts.

"The move has proved something of a masterstroke and, as profits continued to grow, the launch of a West Wickham edition followed in September 2015 under the editorship of Luke King.

"Our success can be attributed in part to the excellent relationships we have forged in the local community, especially among the business community.

"Our advertising sales representatives, for example, regularly attend networking meetings organised by local traders and, in some instances, even sit on their committees – all on a voluntary basis.

"In 2016 we look to build on our successes and will concentrate on further developing our digital platforms, with dedicated pages for all of our titles."

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