The Tindle Group is a British multimedia company operating regional newspapers and radio stations across the British Isles.
It publishes over 200 local newspapers in the
UK, a number of which are over 100 years old.
The company is based in
Farnham
Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
, under CEO Danny Cammiade.
It is owned by the Tindle family. Founder Sir
Ray Tindle was a "strong believer in 'ultra-local' journalism",
a culture which the company still follows today. He remained the company's president until his death in 2022. His son, Owen Tindle, took over as chairman in 2017.
Newspapers
The Tindle newspaper empire started out in the 1950s, when Sir Ray acquired the ''
Tooting & Balham Gazette'' with his £300
demob
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and mili ...
payment after his time serving during the Second World War.
At the company's peak, Tindle Newspapers owned and operated more than 220 local titles.
The following is a partial list of newspapers owned by the company:
*''Abergavenny Chronicle''
*''Admart''
*''Alton Post Gazette''
*''Biggin Hill News''
*''Bordon Messenger''
*''Bordon Post''
*''Beacon & Radnor Express''
*''
Cambrian News
The ''Cambrian News'' is a weekly newspaper distributed in Wales. It was founded in 1860 and is based in Cefn Llan Science Park, Aberystwyth. Cambrian News Ltd was bought by media entrepreneur Sir Ray Tindle in 1998.
History
The paper was fi ...
''
*''
Chew Valley Gazette
The Chew Valley and Wrington Vale Gazette is a monthly local newspaper for the Chew Valley and surrounding areas of north Somerset, England.
It was previously published as the Chew Valley Digest. The first issue of the Digest was published in Ap ...
''
*''
Cornish & Devon Post
The Cornish & Devon Post is a weekly newspaper, published in Launceston, Cornwall, England, which was launched in 1856. It was one of the last newspapers in the UK to carry advertisements, rather than news on the front page. It is owned by ...
''
*''
Cornish Times
''The Cornish Times'' is a weekly newspaper, published every Friday from offices in Liskeard, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The offices are currently based in the former Webb's Hotel building (now called Webb's House). It covers all of South East C ...
''
*''County Echo''
*''Crediton Courier''
*''Dawlish Gazette''
*''Edenbridge Chronicle''
*''Faringdon Newspapers''
*''Farnham Herald''
*''The Forester''
*''The Glamorgan Gem''
*''Godalming Messenger''
*''Haslemere Messenger''
*''
Isle of Man Newspapers
Isle of Man Newspapers publishes the Isle of Man's newspapers.
They are the '' Isle of Man Examiner'', the '' Isle of Man Courier'' and the '' Manx Independent''. They are all weekly newspapers. Its website is www.iomtoday.co.im, as well as ownin ...
''
*''Leigh Times''
*''Life Magazines''
*''Meon Valley News''
*''Mid Devon Advertiser''
*''
Monmouthshire Beacon
The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the ...
''
*''North Cornwall Advertiser''
*''Petersfield Messenger''
*''The Ross Gazette''
*''South Hams Gazette''
*''Surrey & Hants News''
*''
Tavistock Times
''Tavistock Times Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper which serves the Tavistock area in West Devon, England. It is published in tabloid format every Thursday.
The paper exists as the result of the merging of two rival papers in 1986. The ''Tavistoc ...
''
*''
Tenby Observer
The ''Tenby Observer'' is a weekly English language newspaper, published each Friday, which circulates around Tenby, South Pembrokeshire, and amongst tourists generally. The ’paper started as a list of the town's influential and well-to-do visito ...
''
*''
Wellington Weekly News
The ''Wellington Weekly News'' is a weekly newspaper in Wellington, Somerset
Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol t ...
''
*''West Somerset Free Press''
*''
Woking News and Mail
The ''Woking News and Mail'' (incorporating the ''Woking Review'') is a weekly local paper, which is published in the Surrey village of Knaphill in Woking.
The newspaper is published every Thursday and principally covers Woking and the villages ...
''
In 2019, Tindle Newspaper Group closed 4 of their local newspapers.
Radio stations
In the 1970s, Sir Ray Tindle was an early investor in
Capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
. In 1998, he sold back his shares in the company to buy
Island FM
Island FM is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting across the Bailiwick of Guernsey on 104.7FM and 93.7FM in Alderney.
Launched in 1992, Island FM remains the sole commercial station in the island and continues to be extremely success ...
in Guernsey, the first local station to form part of the Tindle group.
The company continued to grow and acquire a dozen stations in England and Wales. Tindle sold its UK radio assets to
Anglian Radio
Anglian Radio was a media company based in Ipswich, Suffolk. The group was created after Tindle Radio sold many of its radio stations in the East of England.
To ensure that Travel, News, Events and Promotions remain local, the group was split int ...
in a management buyout in 2013. The stations were then sold on to
Celador
CPL Productions (formerly Celador) is a British entertainment company originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as an independent television production company. It created and produced a number of popular light entertainment shows and is ...
and later
Bauer.
Tindle continues to own and operate Island FM, as well as
Channel 103 in Jersey,
Midlands 103
Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local independent radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath.
The station's offices and main broadcast studios are in Tullamore, County Offaly. It also ...
in Ireland, and
Soleil Radio
Soleil Radio is a commercial radio station broadcasting to the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm on DAB+ digital radio.
It is an easy listening station, playing relaxing music from the 1960s to present day. Soleil Radio ...
which broadcasts across the Channel Islands.
Criticism
In 2003 as the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
started, the owner of the Tindle Newspaper Group, Sir Ray Tindle, issued an order to his newspapers that they could no longer cover anti-war protests. This decision was controversial and was attacked as censorship by a number of commentators, including the
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Structure
There is ...
General Secretary
Jeremy Dear.
Too Late For Debate?
/ref>
References
External links
Official website
Newspaper companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Surrey
{{UK-publish-company-stub