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The UKRD Group Ltd was a British media company that owned 15 commercial
radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...
in the United Kingdom. The name originates from UK Radio Developments. Since its acquisition in March 2019, it has been run as a subsidiary of
Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...
.


History

Formed on 22 August 1990 as a company to invest in commercial stations following the relaxation of station ownership laws, its first investment was a stake in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
's Pirate FM 102, which was designed and launched by former
County Sound County Sound Radio was an analogue commercial radio station covering Surrey and north-east Hampshire in the United Kingdom. One of its closing forms in 2012-2014 formed Eagle Extra occupying 1566 MW following an internal split between older an ...
boss Mike Powell who, after leaving County Sound, had formed Infinity Radio. Shortly after the launch, Infinity Radio merged with UK Radio Developments and Powell became CEO of the embryonic UKRD Group. Under Powell's leadership, UKRD became one of the fastest growing private radio groups in the UK, rapidly adding Star FM in Slough and winning the
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
radio franchise which gave birth to
96.4 The Eagle Eagle Radio was a local radio station in the Surrey and North East Hampshire area of England. Based in Guildford in the Guildford College campus, Eagle Radio was part of the UKRD Group of radio stations. Launch Peter Gordon launched 96.4 The Ea ...
, the new County Sound (a recreation of the original Guildford commercial station of the same name) and
Delta Radio delta radio is a radio station from Kiel, Germany. It is a branch of Mach3 Broadcasting along with Radio Schleswig-Holstein (RS-H) and Radio Nora (all of Kiel). The French Lagardère Group holds shares in the company. Delta radio prides itself f ...
. Subsequently, it acquired several more stations, and launched further stations on the issue of new local licences. UKRD acquired a significant minority share-holding in
Faze FM Faze FM Radio Ltd was the owner of two dance music radio stations in the North of England. It operated Kiss 102 in Manchester and Kiss 105 in Yorkshire from 1994 to 1997 before being taken over by Chrysalis Group. History Faze FM Radio Ltd w ...
, which ran
Kiss 102 Kiss 102 was a dance music radio station based in Manchester, England. History The frequency was originally issued to Sunset 102 Radio - The Kickin FM but that suffered some financial problems. In May 1993, the Radio Authority made a decision ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Kiss 105 Kiss 105 was a dance music radio station based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It was part of a new breed of regional radio stations as opposed to independent local radio. History The station was launched at and the first track played was 'I Like ...
in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. The stations had a branding deal with
EMAP Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Ric ...
's Kiss FM, London. UKRD sold its interests in the Kiss stations in 1997 to the
Chrysalis Group Chrysalis Group was a UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books a ...
, who added them to its
Galaxy Radio Galaxy was a radio network owned by Global Radio and broadcast across the British Isles on FM in regional areas of England and Scotland, through the digital platform with Sky and DAB and online respectively. Stations included stations: Galaxy ...
network. It also had a helping hand in the launch of South Hams Radio in December 1999, which was closed in 2009 to make way for Heart. From 2001, the head of the organisation was William Rogers, one-time leader of
Penwith Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former Non-metropolitan district, local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. ...
District Council, Cornwall. UKRD Group's head office was within the Carn Brea Studios of Pirate FM 102 in
Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
, Cornwall. It also had offices in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
,
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
and
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. In 2009, it acquired
The Local Radio Company The Local Radio Company was a British media company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, that owned ten independent local radio stations in the UK. After takeover talks with UTV Media, UKRD Group and Hallwood Financial, UKRD acquired the majority shar ...
which had 20 local radio stations. UKRD disposed of many non-profitable stations, as well as re-branding
Alpha Radio Alpha Radio (formerly 103.2 Alpha Radio), Alpha 103.2, 103.2 Alpha FM, Alpha Radio) was an Independent Local Radio station based in Darlington, County Durham, England. History When launched in 1995, Alpha was owned by Radio Investments Ltd ...
,
Minster Northallerton Minster Northallerton was an Independent Local Radio station based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. History Prior to launch, Minster Northallerton was originally known as BTN FM, after the principal towns of the area - Bedale, Thirs ...
and
Durham FM Durham FM was an Independent Local Radio station based in Durham, County Durham, England. History Since its launch in 2005, Durham FM was owned and operated by TLRC. In December 2008, Durham FM submitted an application to Ofcom to co-locate w ...
into
Star Radio North East Rathergood Radio, formerly known as Star Radio (in County Durham), was an independent local radio station. It formerly broadcast in Darlington, County Durham, North Yorkshire and surrounding areas on FM. The County Durham licences were owned and ...
. In 2010, UKRD was ranked 27th in the ''Sunday Times'' Best Companies to Work For (SMEs) and was ranked first in the same category every year between 2011 and 2014. In July 2018,
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
announced it had bought 2BR from UKRD. The station was previously merged with The Bee. In March 2019,
Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...
acquired 10 stations from UKRD as well as three local DAB multiplexes and the interest in First Radio Sales


Stations previously owned by UKRD Group

Prior to their sale to
Bauer Radio Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of the Bauer Media Group. History In early 2008, German magazine publisher Bauer bought the radio division of British company Emap, which had been established as East Midland Allied Press in ...
, UKRD owned the following stations: *
Eagle Radio Eagle Radio was a local radio station in the Surrey and North East Hampshire area of England. Based in Guildford in the Guildford College campus, Eagle Radio was part of the UKRD Group of radio stations. Launch Peter Gordon launched 96.4 The Ea ...
* Eagle 70s * Eagle 80s * Encore Radio * Escape to Cornwall *
KL.FM 96.7 Greatest Hits Radio West Norfolk is an independent local radio station which broadcasts to King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The station was formerly called KL.FM 96.7 and broadcast from a former bank building at 18 Blackfriars Street in King's Ly ...
*
Minster FM Minster FM was a local radio station serving York and the surrounding areas such as Selby, Tadcaster, Thirsk, Northallerton and Goole. The station closed on 31 August 2020 and its frequency is now a relay of Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire York & ...
* Mix 96 *
Pirate FM Pirate FM is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer and based in Cornwall. The station forms part of the Hits Radio network, although its entire output and playlist is locally produced and takes no network programming. ...
* Pirate 70s *
Spire FM Spire FM was a UK radio station based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was awarded the licence to broadcast to Salisbury and the surrounding areas by the Radio Authority, now Ofcom, in 1991. The station took its name from the spire of Salisbury Cath ...
* Spirit FM *
Stray FM Stray FM was a local radio station serving the western half of North Yorkshire, and sections of West Yorkshire, to the north of Leeds and Bradford, England. The original licence covered the towns of Harrogate and Ripon and the surrounding area ...
*
Wessex FM Wessex FM was a local radio station for the Weymouth, Dorchester and Bridport areas of Dorset, originating from studios in Dorchester. It broadcast on 97.2 MHz in Weymouth and Dorchester (from the Bincombe Hill transmitter), and on 96.0&n ...
*
Yorkshire Coast Radio Yorkshire Coast Radio was a local radio station serving Scarborough, Whitby & Bridlington. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History For many years, several businessmen in S ...


Crowdfunded local 'replacements' for former UKRD Group stations

As most of the UKRD Group stations were rebranded under the Greatest Hits Radio brand by Bauer Radio, a number of schemes were launched to establish local radio 'replacements' for these services, many of which featured the same staff/presenters as the UKRD stations and many of which were set up through crowdfunding schemes. In
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, V2 Radio was set up to fill the gap vacated by Wessex FM and Spirit FM, with test transmissions starting in West Sussex in December 2020, and the new service launching fully on 18 January 2021. In
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
YorkMix Radio YorkMix Radio is a British radio station broadcasting in the city of York, in North Yorkshire. It was founded in early 2021, following the sale and re-branding of Minster FM as Greatest Hits Radio, and features a number of the presenters and st ...
launched with former presenters from Minster FM on air, after a successful crowdfunding scheme to get local radio back on air, whilst in the
Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
and
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
area, Radio Biscuit could be found with presenters from Eagle Radio. and Your Harrogate Radio is scheduled to launch on 1 March.


References


External links


UKRD Group
{{The Local Radio Company Radio broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cornwall Mass media in Cornwall Bauer Radio