Business Awards 2017

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

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See pages 10 and 11 of Newbury Business Today for more pictures from the NWN Best in Business Awards

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Changing lives in rural areas Penny Post – winner of the Digital and Social Media A ward in the Newbury Weekly News Best in Business Awards 2017

THIS year’s Digital and Social Media category winner, Penny Post , started 12 years ago with a laptop, 40 email addresses and the passion of one local resident to connect her community, support local businesses and provide readers with useful, local information. Penny Locke’s occasional emails (which for many years didn’t have a name, until the penny dropped...) have now evolved into a free weekly e-newsletter, a website with over 15,000 monthly page views, social-media platforms and a YouTube channel with nearly 100 videos about local events and businesses. The newsletter now has over 3,600 subscribers within the Thatcham-Marlborough- Wantage triangle with a weekly open rate of over 45 per cent. “It’s hard work,” says Penny, a mother of two who lives in East Garston near Lambourn. “But so rewarding when we are able to help good causes find volunteers, readers find jobs, property and events, and local businesses find new customers. “When you live in a rural area it’s often hard to discover local information. “Some people have told us that Penny Post has changed their lives as they now feel more connected to the community.” Penny Post has a very small team

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of Penny, her husband Brian Quinn and volunteer website editor Alistair Mills. The business thrives on crowd publishing as it gives many groups and contributors access to the Penny Post platform so they can have a stronger presence in the community. They also give local businesses marketing advice and affordable advertising rates. “We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us,” says Brian, “including our loyal readers and advertisers,

Greenham Trust, our webmaster Mike Vince from A Handful of Colour and Dale Campbell from Trademark Tribe, who negotiated our Penny Post trademark co-existence agreement with Royal Mail. “We are passionate about positive, constructive ‘news you can use’ and are delighted that it’s proving popular and that we have won the NWN ’s prestigious local award.” To subscribe to Penny Post , please visit pennypost.org.uk and click on the pink ‘Sign up for Free’ button.