North West launch for TheBusinessDesk.com
REGIONAL business news website TheBusinessDesk.com has launched a new service for the North West following the success of its Yorkshire operation.
The service – aimed primarily at the business community across the region – features interviews, news and comment, quoted and private company results and announcements, and key appointments.
Uniquely users can choose to receive daily e-mail or text alerts, which arrive before 9am every working day, direct to their desktop and the service is fully
compatible with mobile phone, PDA devices and BlackBerry.
It is the North West’s only dedicated free online daily business news service and also covers corporate finance and commercial property deals as well as
hosting a comprehensive business directory.
TheBusinessDesk.com was launched in Yorkshire last November by former Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin with the backing of a number of entrepreneurs and Yorkshire Bank.
The free service quickly attracted an audience of more than 7,500 registered users, and now has a monthly readership of over 14,000 Yorkshire business people.
Revenues generated from sponsorship and advertising fund the running of the state of the art site, meaning the service can be offered without any charge to registered users.
TheBusinessDesk.com North West will report on business news for the entire region including Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria.
The team running the North West service includes former Manchester Evening News business editor Sheryl Moore; respected Manchester-based business journalist and former Yorkshire Post deputy business editor James Graham; and published business author and journalist Anastasia Weiner.
Other high profile North West journalist staff are expected to join in the coming weeks.
Mr Parkin, the group’s managing editor, said: “We are fully aware of what a thriving commercial region the North West is and felt it was a natural step to launch here after the success of our Yorkshire website.
“There is a huge amount of business done between Yorkshire and the North West and we believe a new service in the region that provides trusted business information in an accessible format quickly, clearly and free will be a valuable tool for professionals who need to be kept up-to-date with what is
happening in the region.”
The Yorkshire operation has grown to boast more than 150,000 pages viewed each month by registered users and more than one million pages have been viewed since launch. It attracts over 50,000 unique visits each month and the audience is growing by more than 10% each month. The new North West edition is expected to double traffic and visitor numbers within six months.
