- D. C. Thomson & Co.
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D. C. Thomson & Co. Type Private Industry Newspapers, Magazines, Comics Founded 1905, by David Coupar Thomson Headquarters 2 Albert Square, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 9QJ, UK Key people Andrew Thomson (Chairman) Products Sunday Post, The Evening Telegraph
My Weekly, Jackie, Shout
The Beano, The Dandy, Commando
See also: list of DC Thomson PublicationsEmployees 1700 Website D C Thomson & co Ltd: Publishers and Printers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, is a publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland, best known for producing The Dundee Courier, The Evening Telegraph, The Sunday Post, Oor Wullie, The Broons, The Beano, The Dandy and Commando comics. It also owns Friends Reunited,[1] Parragon, and the Aberdeen Journals Group which publishes the Press and Journal, the Evening Express, the Aberdeen Citizen and the North Scotland edition of ScotAds. Historically it was a significant shareholder in the former ITV company Southern Television.
Contents
The company
The company began as a branch of the Thomson family business when W Thomson became the sole proprietor of Charles Alexander & Co., publishers of Dundee Courier and Daily Argus. In 1884, David Coupar Thomson took over the publishing business, and established it as DC Thomson in 1905. The firm flourished, and took its place as the third J in the "Three Js", the traditional summary of Dundee industry ('jam, jute and journalism').[2] Thomson was notable for his conservatism, vigorously opposing the introduction of trade unions into his workforce, and for refusing to employ Catholics.[3]
The company produces more than 200 million comics, magazines, and newspapers every year from offices in Dundee, Glasgow, Manchester and London. As of March 2011, the company employed around 1,700 workers.[4] Although the principal offices are now located outside Dundee city centre at Kingsway, the Courier Building at Meadowside has been retained as the company headquarters. This 1902 building was designed to resemble an American red stone, steel reinforced office block. When a tower extension was added in 1960, the architect T Lindsay Grey kept the same style.
In June 2010, 350 jobs at DC Thomson were made redundant with the closure of the West Ward Printworks in Dundee, along with a section of the Kingsway Print Plant.
Publications
DC Thomson publications include:
- Sunday Post
- The Courier
- The Evening Telegraph
- My Weekly
- The Scots Magazine
- The Beano
- The Dandy
- Commando
- Jackie
- Shout
- Animals and You
See also
- List of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd publications
- British comics
References
- ^ "brightsolid acquires Friends Reunited". Brightsolid.com. http://www.brightsolid.com/news/top-news/brightsolid-acquires-friends-reunited. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
- ^ "Victorian Dundee: Jute, Jam & Journalism". Scottish History. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/victorian/trails_victorian_dundee.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ "Gazetteer for Scotland: David Couper Thomson". http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst437.html.
- ^ "About Us". D. C. Thomson & Co. http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/about.aspx. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
External links
Magazines Animals and You · The Beano · BeanoMAX · Classics from the Comics · Commando · The Dandy · Fun Size Comics · My Weekly · The Official Jacqueline Wilson Mag · The People's Friend · The Scots Magazine · Shout · This England · The Weekly News · WWE Kids
Books Parragon · Peter Haddock
Other brightSolid (Friends Reunited) · Puzzler
D. C. Thomson comics Currently Running Comics Adventure Comics Adventure · Bullet · Buddy · Champ · Commando · The Crunch · The Hornet · The Hotspur · The Rover · The Skipper · Spike · Starblazer · The Vanguard · The Victor · Warlord · The WizardGirls Comics Humour Comics The Beano · BeanoMAX · The Beezer · Buzz · Classics from the Comics · Cracker · The Dandy · Fun Size Comics · Hoot · The Magic Comic · Nutty · Plug · Sparky · The TopperPre-School Comics Notable Strips Alf Tupper · Baby Crockett · Bananaman · The Bash Street Kids · Beryl the Peril · Black Bob · Biffo the Bear · The Broons · Calamity James · Cuddles and Dimples · Dennis the Menace · Desperate Dan · Ginger · Gnasher · Ivy the Terrible · Keyhole Kate · Korky the Cat · Little Plum · Lord Snooty · Matt Braddock · Minnie the Minx · The Numskulls · Pansy Potter · Roger the Dodger · Oor Wullie · Wilson the Wonder Athlete · Wolf of KabulComic annuals The Beano Annual · The Beezer Book · The Bimbo Book · The Dandy Annual · The Hotspur Book for Boys · The Sparky Book · The Topper Book · The Victor Book for Boys · Warlord Book for BoysCharacter annuals Bananaman Annual · The Bash Street Kids Annual · Beryl the Peril Annual · Black Bob Book · The Broons Annual · Dennis the Menace Annual · The Desperate Dan Book · Oor Wullie AnnualNotable Artists Leo Baxendale · Gordon Bell · Nick Brennan · Paddy Brennan · Sid Burgon · John Geering · Barry Glennard · Ken H. Harrison · Laura Howell · Malcolm Judge · David Law · Allan Morley · Dave Mostyn · Robert Nixon · Nigel Parkinson · Tom Paterson · Jim Petrie · Ken Reid · Bill Ritchie · David Parkins · David Sutherland · Kev F. Sutherland · Dudley D. Watkins · Wilbur Dawbarn · Karl Dixon · The Etherington Brothers · Wayne Thompson · Andy Fanton · Phil Corbett · Nigel Auchterlounie · Lew Stringer · Alexander Matthews · Jon Rushby · Trevor Metcalfe · Barrie Appleby · Charles Grigg · Tom Williams · Vic NeillCategories:- Companies of Scotland
- DC Thomson Comics
- Magazine publishing companies
- Media companies of the United Kingdom
- Companies based in Dundee
- Media in Dundee
- Scottish brands
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