We have invited Martin Walker, Director, Resolution Media & Publishing to write this week’s blog. Martin and his team continue to share the success stories of businesses in our region and I think you will agree there is a lot to shout about!
To say these are challenging times would be an understatement.
But at Resolution Media and Publishing, we firmly believe there are genuine reasons to be positive – and we have evidence to back it up.
We’ve just published (online) the autumn issue of Tees Business – and it’s very promising to reveal it’s a record-breaking edition!
We’ve been going five-and-a-half years now and there has never been a bigger issue of our quarterly business publication than this, the 23rd edition of Tees Business, at 124 pages. It’s also a record issue for us in terms of sales.
It’s been a huge team effort by my business partner Dave Allan and I, our full-time employees Julie Burniston and Chris Garbutt and our team of freelancers.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer, as the saying goes. And one issue of Tees Business – record-breaking or otherwise – doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods by any stretch.
But, as we head into autumn and with the cold winter months not too far away, we think it does at least send out a positive message of hope, that we’re slowly starting to see what we all hope is the beginning of the so-called V or U-shaped recovery.
One thing is for sure, the Tees region’s business community has come out fighting, and we’re very proud to represent more than 60 companies in this issue, which is packed full of positive news.
One of the major problems throughout this pandemic has been the unbalanced coverage of business and economic news in the mainstream media.
Sadly, it comes as no surprise to me. I was always told at journalism school, ‘bad news is good news’. And, true to form, most of the media seem to be thriving on the headline-grabbing job loss stories. Yet the much-needed news items around job creation, which would at least fuel some positive energy, are instead being starved of oxygen.
That’s why we think it’s our role at Tees Business to shine a light on the good news – the contract wins, the new jobs, the evolving businesses, the emerging technologies and, of course, the award wins.
We must keep on Talking Up Teesside!
Notwithstanding the current climate, issue 23 of Tees Business is brimming with positivity, and comes with a few surprises.
We have a special 18-page supplement on the inaugural Tees Tech Awards, which we held virtually at the end of August.
Thousands of people watched the awards event online, with our Facebook videos from the night reaching more than 110,000 views combined. They really did!
Once we all had chance to digest our lovely Domino’s pizzas – which we delivered to more than 130 people via the Racz Group’s brilliant franchise network – we arranged for the awards to be presented individually during socially-distanced private presentations at our offices, so we have pictures and reactions from all the winners and sponsors included in this issue.
And our cover feature focuses on Dominic Lusardi, one of the Tees tech sector’s leading personalities, with a brilliant feature by freelance writer and former Northern Echo editor Peter Barron, who’s now a key member of our editorial team.
This issue of Tees Business also reveals the results of our annual poll of the Tees region’s best restaurants – leaving plenty of food for thought – and Jo Davies from HR Alchemy answers our 20 questions over a cuppa in the Tees Up feature.
That is but a snapshot of what we have in this edition, which is available to read online now at this link: https://teesbusiness.co.uk/Tees_Business_Issue23.html
Circulation of the printed issues is due to start today (September 28), with thousands of copies heading to the business communities of Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar & Cleveland and Darlington.
We have also been investing heavily in social media advertising with recent issues of Tees Business, with the last issue (summer) achieving a record-smashing 12,000 online views. We’re aiming to at least match that with the new issue.
We’re grateful to all the businesses that have continued to support us throughout the summer – collectively they have all contributed towards us being able to spread positive messages.
We know there will be more bumps in the road. But we just need to keep fighting, to keep doing our best, to keep looking out for each other.
And to keep Talking Up Teesside!
Martin Walker
Co-editor, Tees Business
Director, Resolution Media & Publishing
