Lloyd and Ruth Armishaw (centre) with The New Blackmore Vale’s editorial, sales and distribution team. Picture: Len Copland.
Published: September 10, 2021 | Updated: 10th September 2021
It was a gamble – a big gamble.
A businessman with no newspaper experience who decided, with his wife and family, to launch an A4 colour news magazine.
A print publication which would fill the hole left after one of the UK’s biggest media companies, Reach plc, pulled the plug on the popular, and genuinely loved, Blackmore Vale Magazine (BVM).
The New Blackmore Vale was printed for the first time at Blackmore Ltd in Shaftesbury on September 24, 2020.
It was just over three weeks after Lloyd Armishaw, pictured left, of Armishaw Removals, had attended a social event, on September 1, where the discussion had turned to the demise of the BVM.
As he later recalled: “Someone should start it up again was the general opinion.
“I said: ‘Why are you looking at me?’
“Because you could do it, they said.
“Now I am known by some people, and especially members of my family, for wanting to try to start, or invest in, different businesses.
“The cries of ‘no, no, no’ are what I normally hear and I would retreat to my desk.
“ But this was different – I kept hearing words of support.”
And now, 12 months later and after publication of the 25th issue with 112 pages and a four-page glossy advertising wrap, a party has been held to mark the first anniversary of The New Blackmore Vale.
Held at the Armishaw’s home, it was attended by 50 people including staff, columnists and their partners, pictured.
Ruth Armishaw said: “The New Blackmore Vale has had a fantastic first year.
“As a family with no experience of journalism, we have been on a massive learning curve.
“It has been something of a rollercoaster, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
“However we were always able to print and distribute on time, even when the printers had a serious fire our amazing team were able to get the publication out.
“The team have so much experience – between them they are able to cover a large range of topics from a local perspective.
“The sales team, headed up by Debi Thorne, understand the Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset business world.
“Our news team, led by Editor Miranda Robertson, do a fantastic job.
“Our news is always about the local communities and relevant to the time we go to press.
“People love this.
“They engage, sending letters and emails, whether it’s a fundraising function, a planning proposal or the arts.”
Miranda, pictured left, said the community in North Dorset had been genuinely devastated when the BVM closed in August 2020 after more than 40 years.
She added: “We knew we would be fulfilling a need.
“However what we didn’t predict is how fast it would grow.”
In fact, The New Blackmore Vale paid for itself from the first edition, despite high printing and distribution costs.
A total of 32,500 copies are now distributed free every fortnight across a wide area including Blandford, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Sturminster Newton as well as dozens of villages.
Most are snapped up in a day or two. There are just 200 returns.
Miranda said: “One of the best things about this year has been going back to basics in journalism, writing the kind of features we all became journalists to write.
“We gather a mix of community news together, we go out and interview people face to face.
“There’s very little churnalism, no ambulance chasing, no shock horror.
“People love reading it – it makes people feel warm and comforted. Even covid has a lower case on it.
“We supply humour, information, recipes, puzzles and healthy debate.”
Three members of the Armishaw family take an active role in the business.
Lloyd is Director and Publisher, Ruth is Commercial Manager while their son, David, a Director of The Blackmore Vale Ltd with Lloyd, has been an integral part of the magazine’s success, running the classifieds department, managing invoicing, IT and getting to grips with the unfamiliar world of publishing.
The wider team includes no fewer than 13 former staff employed by Newsquest, publisher of titles including the Bournemouth Echo, Dorset Echo and Salisbury Journal.
Pictured with Lloyd Armishaw, they include Miranda (ex Dorset Echo and Salisbury Journal), News Editor Karen Bate (ex Salisbury Journal and Bournemouth Echo); Steve Keenan (ex Southampton Echo and Times writer) and former Dorset Echo Chief Sub Nick Horton.
The sales staff include Ad Sales Manager Debi Thorne (ex Dorset Echo, Bournemouth Echo, Salisbury Journal and Basingstoke Gazette), Senior Account Manager Jane Toomer (ex Bournemouth Echo) and Account Manager Sue Kennington (ex Salisbury Journal).
Lorraine Drake, Distributor, previously handled the distribution for the old BVM.
Some 500 ads are placed in The New Blackmore Vale by hand.
About 250 of those are designed by ex Bournemouth Echo duo John Nesbitt and Rich Stone, with the remainder coming from the classifieds team.
A second title was launched in March, The New Stour and Avon, with former Dorset Echo photographer and sub-editor Steve Belasco now taking the reins as Editor.
Ex Bournemouth Echo writers Faith Eckersall and Lorraine Gibson provide news and features.
Miranda said: “One of the things I am most proud of in my life is bringing all these brilliant journalists, designers and sales people on board, who are enjoying returning to what we all thought was a bygone age of journalism.
“It’s totally chimed with readers and advertisers.
“It’s such a thrill to hear that newsprint is working for people.
“Our latest magazine was 112 pages with a four-page glossy advertising wrap.
“We’ve resolutely kept the font size at 11pt as readers love the larger print, which is no easy task as we always have so much to squeeze in.
“It’s been a very steep learning curve, but somehow we’ve made lots of right choices and it’s working very well indeed.”
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Dorset Biz News Gallery – The New Blackmore Vale’s first birthday. Pictures by Len Copland.
Jo and Steve Belasco
Lorraine Gibson and Faith Eckersall
Karen Bate, Steve Keenan, Miranda Robertson and Nicci Brown
Debi Thorne
Jane Toomer
Diana and Bob Holman
Adrian Fisher
Ruth Armishaw
Dr Andrew Murrison, MP for South West Wiltshire
