A digital magazine launched in the middle of the pandemic and that has since gone from strength to strength is celebrating its first two awards.

The BV, which carries the strapline ‘From the heart of the Blackmore Vale’ on its cover, was named Digital Magazine of the Year in the 2022/23 Prestige Awards for South England.

Judges were impressed by The BV’s range of stellar columnists and contributors commenting that ‘each edition is packed with stories that define Dorset culture, encapsulating an authentic slice of the region’.

The magazine was also named Local Monthly Publication of the Year in the CorporateLiveWire Awards.

Laura Hitchcock, Editor of The BV, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to receive the first award, but to win two has been amazing.

“It’s a testament to the brilliant, talented team we have working with us.

“Our goal is always to provide our readers with insightful, engaging and thought-provoking content.

“We’re honoured to be recognised for our efforts.”

Launched in September 2020 by Laura and her husband, Courtenay, The BV was originally known as The Blackmore Vale until a rebrand.

It features a diverse range of topics, from local issues and politics to art and farming.

All are from a North Dorset perspective, written by carefully selected experts in their respective fields.

Courtenay, Co-Owner and Head of Sales, said: “We’re proud to have achieved these awards, but we are excited to continue pushing the boundaries of digital publishing in the coming year.”

Published monthly, The BV runs to 110+ pages and has established a large and loyal readership.

But, said Laura, it was very different just 30 months ago.

She said: “We literally started from nothing.

“No audience, no brand recognition and entirely empty social media accounts.”

Today The BV’s Facebook reach, alone, is more than 200,000 people a month.

The number of subscribers to the magazine has increased by 50 per cent year on year.

Laura said: “Of course, being a subscriber just means an early peek as it arrives in their inbox on publication day – the magazine is freely available across all our platforms.

“Lots of publications say ‘we’re online’ but sadly many don’t really understand what that should mean.

“Fortunately, digital is transparent.

“We’ll happily provide proof on all our stats.

“Our podcast audience is also rapidly growing.

“We knew some people prefer to listen than read, so we launched the podcast last year.

“Now they can catch up while they’re driving or doing the ironing.

“It’s a brilliant opportunity to expand on the magazine, with exclusives and full interviews.”

Courtenay said the key to The BV’s success was being local.

He said: “We’ve lived here for 30 years.

“We’ve run our businesses in the local community, our children went to our local schools.

“We are our audience and our advertisers.

“It’s not just a business for us, I think that’s the key to its success.

“Sharing a passionate sense of place through the stories being lived out among us is the very core and foundation of everything we do, it’s baked into every story that we share.

“Above all, we retain a strong and committed focus to supporting local communities, the people, stories and successes and issues within them.”

Laura added: “I think we succeed because we focus on maintaining quality in every area.

“Traditional journalism combined with the latest digital business skills and an eye for excellent photography with a painstakingly thorough sub-editing team.

“The BV is a clear demonstration of all that can be achieved with a free regional publication by a tiny team when using the right people and the right skills.”

• theblackmorevale.co.uk