NEW MILTON ADVERTISER AND LYMINGTON TIMES TO CELEBRATE 90TH ANNIVERSARY WITH FULL COLOUR RELAUNCH
NEW FOREST SHOW ESHOT
December 2017
NEW MILTON ADVERTISER AND LYMINGTON TIMES TO CELEBRATE
90TH ANNIVERSARY WITH FULL COLOUR RELAUNCH
THE New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times, local newspapers which have been covering the New Forest and Christchurch area since 1928, will celebrate the business’s 90th anniversary next year by relaunching in full colour.
The independent and family-run broadsheet publication – known collectively by readers as the Advertiser and Times (or A&T for short) – has for decades been an enduring feature of local life and will repeat its role as the New Forest Show’s official press partner in 2018.
Its team of journalists now reports on the entire New Forest, including the district’s coastline communities, the Waterside, Totton, Fordingbridge and Ringwood, and the borough of Christchurch.
Sold every Friday, the A&T is currently printed in black and white at the company’s HQ in New Milton on a 1960s converted Viscount letterpress printing machine powered by a John Deere tractor engine.
But on Friday January 26th, the A&T will relaunch as a full-colour broadsheet printed at the state-of the-art Johnston Press PLC operation in Portsmouth, a short drive down the M27.
The historic last black and white edition will begin to roll off the old press at 11am on Thursday January 18th.
The A&T’s managing director is Eddie Curry (63). He is among four generations of Currys involved in running the business following his father, 97-year-old proprietor Charles Starr Curry MBE, and late grandfather Charles Townley Curry MBE. Eddie’s niece Marianne Gregory is a director.
Eddie said: “Everyone at the A&T is rightly proud of reaching our 90th year as an independent paper – especially when the wider industry is facing serious challenges. We’ve endured by staying true to our high journalistic standards and traditional, ultra-local focus.
“Going colour is the logical next step to maintain the material and editorial quality that our loyal readership expects. We’ve worked hard to preserve the A&T’s spirit while making it more accessible, up to date – and also attractive to advertisers eager to reach what is a very affluent area.
“We’re sad to lose four full-time jobs on the press but are retaining two of these staff in other roles. They have worked wonders to get such results out of a more than 50-year-old black and white press. Savings will be reinvested to develop further plans which we intend to announce next year.”
Eddie added: “In the coming weeks, we will be explaining to local people what changes to the newspaper they can expect, listening carefully to how they respond, and adjusting where necessary.”
A&T commercial development manager Alison Thomas said: “We’ve listened to local and national advertisers and I think they will embrace our new full-colour pages. This is a real opportunity for eye-catching designs and campaigns to reach thousands of customers in the New Forest and Christchurch.”
The 90th anniversary celebrations in 2018 will continue with the opening of brand new offices featuring a specially built newsroom at the A&T’s existing site in Compton Road, New Milton. They are currently under construction and scheduled for completion in the summer.
David Crow, managing director of Johnston Press PLC Group Services Division Print & Logistics, said: “We are delighted here at Johnston Press Portsmouth Web to win this new business and to be a part of the exciting new venture for the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times as it moves into the world of full colour printing and value-added products for its advertisers and customers.”
The New Milton Advertiser was founded in 1928 before it was acquired in 1930 by Charles Townley Curry MBE, a former editor of the Canadian Daily Record and local Christchurch Times. In 1932 he added to it by launching the Lymington Times in the town.
Visit www.adt.press, follow @LymingtonTimes on Twitter, or like @LymTimes on Facebook.
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