Somewhere in the wilds of Scotland there's an abandoned aerodrome in an unusually damp but perfect microclimate that is home to 7m back issues of newspapers. It's not a recycling plant but the 'back end' of back-issue-newspaper.co.uk, a five-year-old business that annually sells about 30,000 back editions of 30 UK and Irish national and regional newspaper titles.
Their clients include members of the public who want to buy a specific edition for a birthday or anniversary (you'll have seen the ads in the back of the broadsheets) but also lawyers and professionals who need clippings and researchers, including BBC writers who need accurate historical references for things like period dramas.
Is it a business model to save the printed newspaper industry? No, it isn't. But it's a rather charming business that is just one of many in the newspaper distribution ecosystem - one that the internet completely bypasses. Ironically, as newspaper sales continue to decline, the value of physical newspaper archives (and some of Back Issues' editions go back to 1685) will continue to increase.
