An online business news outlet, TheBusinessDesk.com, has reached a readership milestone by securing more than 50,000 registered subscribers.
The free-to-use service has three regional hubs: Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands
It was founded in 2007 by the former Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin, and backed by private entrepreneurs. It added the North West hub in 2008, which is run by former Manchester Evening News business editor Chris Barry. The West Midlands hub came on line early this year with former Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves at the helm.
TheBusinessDesk has a staff of 18, including 12 journalists across the three offices.
On September 1, it recorded users 33,690 users in Yorkshire, 23,583 in the North West, and 7,740 in the West Midlands. It claims its sites are visited by more than 250,000 business people every month.
Parkin says: "This is a phenomenal rate of growth that clearly demonstrates that the future of regional media is digital... we now have a proven business model that is working in multiple locations."
