Thomson Local is a local business

telephone directory A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization tha ...

, published up until 2016 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by Thomson Directories Ltd from its former head office at Thomson House in

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town located in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England. It has a population of around 57,486 as of the 2011 census and is an important centre of aviation, engineering and technology. The town is probably best known for it ...

. It is the principal rival (and for the 1980s and some of the 1990s the sole rival) to the

Yellow Pages The yellow pages are Telephone directory, telephone directories of business, businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, ...

(published by Thomson as the Thomson Yellow Pages until it was sold to the privatised BT). The printed directory was distributed without charge to households and businesses, reaching some 22 million homes and businesses at its peak. As of 2016 the company ceased the production and delivery of printed directories, opting instead to offer their services digitally. Thomson Local is a focused local area directory which has continually innovated with features such as colour and knock-out white advertisements. It was the first such directory in the UK to contain added value features such as local maps, local guides, and additional useful information beyond the actual business listings themselves. Thomson Directories Ltd was originally formed to publish the Thomson Local in 1980 by

The Thomson Corporation Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reute ...

(after it had sold its Thomson Yellow Pages business) and

Dun & Bradstreet The Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (D&B) is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk a ...

, in partnership. After trials in several areas, the Thomson Local was first published throughout

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in 1981. It was owned by Seat Pagine Gialle S.p.A. of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

until both companies fell into administration in August 2013. Thomson Local's assets were purchased by telephone data company Corporate Media Partners, preserving more than 300 jobs but with 170 redundancies. In the 1990s, the company expanded its operations to include its own online directory in the shape o
thomsonlocal.com
and a range of partner implementations supplying classified and keyword based listings to companies such as MSN, StreetMap, Pipex and many others. In July 2010, Thomson Local signed a multi-year agreement to become the UK's first re-seller of adCenter, the pay-per-click platform for Microsoft's search engine

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

. Later that year, the company launchedMobile Marketing Magazine. "Thomsonlocal.com launches Local Business Search App" http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/content/thomsonlocalcom-launches-local-business-search-app the thomsonlocal.com app for iPhone which has since been discontinued. As of 2017 Thomson Local operates from their new head office in the Templer building of Farnborough Business Park overlooking Farnborough Airport.

References

External links

The on-line version of the Thomson Local
{{Primary sources, date=January 2007 British brands Yellow pages