by HoldTheFrontPage staff

Before (left) and after the re-launch

The Saffron Walden Weekly News is celebrating its relaunch as a free newspaper.

The 111-year-old Essex paper, part of Cambridge Newspapers, is now distributed to more than 20,000 homes. It was relaunched in May and doubled its pagination within five weeks from 32 to 64 pages, having won the support of local advertisers and estate agents.

Nigel Brookes, who took over the editorship in January, said the paid-for paper had been in steady decline and sales had dropped to below 2,000.

“We obviously needed to pump new life into what was still a highly-regarded paper. The best way forward was to relaunch it as a free newspaper with a new masthead and we took the unusual step of actually reducing the number and size of adverts on the front page.

“We also produced an entertainments section, increased our sports coverage, made better use of photographs and improved our overall service to customers. The result is that within five weeks of the relaunch we now have a better relationship with our readers and have produced our first 64-page paper.”

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