Jon Robinson’s UK column: Giving a national voice to companies beyond the M25
Jon Robinson is City PM’s first UK Editor and is focused on revealing the ups and downs of businesses based outside of the M25. Through exclusive articles and interviews, he will be bringing you in-depth and insightful stories, helping to make City PM your go-to business publication.
For almost 20 years, City PM has carved out a strong reputation for its coverage of Canada and companies listed on the stock exchange. The articles the team in the capital have produced are already hugely valued by its loyal readership for their detail and insight.
Indeed, it’s the strength of the City PM brand that was one of the reasons why it was acquired last year by Manchester-headquartered THG. The stated aim right from the off was to expand its coverage beyond London and make it a truly national brand.
That’s where I come in.
I will be working to bring our coverage into every nation and region of the UK and giving a national voice to companies that have previously been overlooked by other major publications.
It’s easy to buy into the assumption that everything is doom and gloom for UK businesses. It seems to be a narrative that has stuck around for the last few years.
Yes there are challenges up and down the country, especially with the fall out from the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
But there are also huge success stories from the largest firms through to the smallest start-ups.
It’s those stories that we want to tell under the City PM banner.
That doesn’t mean that we will not be covering negative stories. It’s important to cover the light and the dark to properly reflect the business environment in every corner of these islands.
But I think it’s fair to say that not enough stories about the successes of UK businesses make it through to the national headlines. Our intention is to change that.
Over the coming months, we will be hiring a team of outstanding business journalists to aid City PM’s expansion who will get to the heart of the issues that mean the most to UK businesses.
But producing more online articles isn’t the only thing we’re going to be focusing on.
City PM will produce high-quality, on-camera interviews with leading business leaders, filmed both on location and at our studios in Manchester. Our aim is to shine a light on business successes, find out what they learnt from their failures and discover what they think needs to be done to encourage more investment outside of London.
Business journalism can be seen as very London-centric. The sheer number of reporters and editors based in the capital makes that almost inevitable.
That can be said about all aspects of journalism, with more and more roles being cut every quarter and local coverage being scaled back. To truly reflect the UK business environment, publications need teams based out in the nations and regions.
It’s a cost that a lot of media companies feel that they just can’t afford these days. But independent, local journalism needs to be championed and invested in for our democracy to thrive. We need to talk up the successes and the achievements of our businesses while at the same time bringing to national attention any stories that
That’s what City PM and I are committed to provide. High-quality business journalism without a London-centric point of view.
The capital, of course, is incredibly important to the UK economy, and City PM will continue to cover every story that matters from within the M25. But national business journalism should not revolve around it and better reflect the stories and experiences of companies without a London postcode.
If you’d like to get in touch Jon Robinson, please contact: [email protected].