Archant

Archant is a publishing company, based in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 75 weekly newspapers, and 75 consumer and contract magazines.

The Group employs around 2600 employees mainly in East Anglia, the Home Counties and the West Country and was known as Eastern Counties Newspapers, until March 2002.

History

The company began publishing in Norwich in 1845 with "Norfolk News", backed by Jacob Henry Tillet, Jeremiah Colman, John Copeman and Thomas Jarrold. The Colman and Copeman families still retain close involvement in the business.

The "Eastern Weekly Press" was launched in 1867 and in 1870 was renamed the "Eastern Daily Press". A sister title, the "Eastern Evening News" was launched in 1882. As the business grew it moved premises in 1902, 1959 and again in the late 1960s to its present headquarters location at Prospect House in the centre of Norwich.

At the end of the 1960s, Eastern Counties Newspapers began its corporate expansion with the coming together of ECN with the "East Anglian Daily Times" Company to form Eastern Counties Newspapers Group (ECNG).

ECNG developed further with the launch of Community Media Limited in 1981, a weeklies publishing operation based in Bath, which launched and acquired titles in Scotland and the West Country.

In 1985, ECNG purchased the East Anglia-based "Advertiser" group of weekly free newspapers. These businesses operated as separate entities until the mid-1990s when they were brought together under the ECNG banner.

ECNG itself grew in 1993, when it bought four weekly newspapers in Huntingdon, Ely, Wisbech and March from Thomson. The acquisition of Peterhead-based P Scrogie followed shortly afterwards.

The company moved into Internet publishing in 1996 when it launched Eastern Counties Network, a Web-based service using copy from its four daily newspapers as well as original material. Later this was disaggregated into separate websites for each of the newspapers.

In April 1998, ECNG bought Home Counties Newspapers Holdings plc with an agreed bid of approximately £58m. HCNH published a range of 26 weekly paid and free titles across Greater London and the Home Counties. The title portfolio included the "Hampstead & Highgate Express", the "South Essex Recorder" series, the "Hertfordshire|Herts Advertiser" series, the "Comet" series, the "Herald" group and the "Welwyn & Hatfield Times".

Consumer magazine publisher Market Link Publishing, now Archant Specialist, based in Essex was acquired by ECNG for £5m in autumn 1999. Its titles now include "Photography Monthly", "Professional Photographer", "Pilot" and "Sport Diver".

The launch of a county magazine in Norfolk in 2000 saw the beginning of what is now Archant Life, the country's biggest publisher of county magazines. The division was subsequently given scale through acquisitions in the North West, the Cotswolds and the South and South East of England.

In March 2002, ECNG changed its name to Archant.

Publications

Daily Newspapers

* "East Anglian Daily Times"
* "Eastern Daily Press (EDP)"
* "Norwich Evening News"
* "Evening Star"

Weekly Paid Newspapers

* "Barking & Dagenham Post" — Barking & Dagenham
* "Bungay Journal" — Beccles & Bungay
* "Cambridgeshire Times" — Cambridgeshire
* "Dereham & Fakenham Times" — Dereham & Fakenham
* "East London Advertiser"— East London
* "Ely Standard" — Ely
* "Exmouth Journal" — Exmouth
* "Great Yarmouth Mercury" — Great Yarmouth
* "Green Un" — an Ipswich-based Association football weekly
* "Hackney Gazette" — Hackney
* "Hampstead & Highgate Express (Ham&High)" — Hampstead & Highgate
* "Highbury & Islington Express" — Highbury & Islington
* "Ilford Recorder" — Ilford
* "Islington Gazette" — Islington
* "Kilburn Times" — Kilburn
* "Lowestoft Journal" — Lowestoft
* "Newham Recorder" — Newham
* "North Norfolk News" — North Norfolk
* "Pink Un" — a Norwich-based Association football weekly
* "Romford Recorder" — Romford
* "Sidmouth Herald" — Sidmouth
* "The Crow" — Royston
* "Hatfield Times" — Welwyn & Hatfield
* "The Weston & Somerset Mercury" — Weston-super-Mare & Somerset
* "Willesden & Brent Times" — Willesden & Brent
* "Wisbech Standard" — Wisbech

Weekly Free Newspapers

* "Diss Mercury"— Diss
* "Dunmow Broadcast & Recorder" — Great Dunmow
* "Herts Herald" — East Hertfordshire
* "Exmouth Herald" — Exmouth
* "The Advertiser" — Coastal edition (East Suffolk)
* "The Advertiser" — Great Yarmouth edition
* "The Advertiser" — Ipswich edition
* "The Advertiser" — Norwich edition
* "The Advertiser" — North Norfolk edition
* "The Advertiser" — South Norfolk edition
* "The Advertiser" — Waveney edition
* "Harlow, Old Harlow & Epping Herald" — Harlow, Old Harlow & Epping
* "Havering Post" — Havering
* "Herts Advertiser Series" — St Albans & Harpenden
* "Hunts Post" — Huntingdon
* "Midweek Herald" — East Devon
* "North Herts Comet" Series — North Hertfordshire
* "North Herts Herald" — North Hertfordshire
* "North Devon Gazette & Advertiser" — North Devon
* "North Somerset Times" — North Somerset
* "Property Extra"
* "Saffron Walden Reporter" — Saffron Walden
* "Sidmouth Herald" — Sidmouth
* "Stevenage Herald" — Stevenage
* "Watton Times" — Thetford & Watton, Norfolk
* "West Suffolk Mercury Series" — West Suffolk
* "Weston-super-Mare Admag" — Weston-super-Mare
* "Wymondham & Attleborough Mercury" — Wymondham & Attleborough

External links

* [http://www.Archant.co.uk Archant website]