The Northern Echo is enjoying steady sales a year on from its switch from broadsheet to tabloid.

That’s the view of editor Peter Barron who also revealed the process of adopting the compact format started shortly after beginning his editorship nearly a decade ago.

He told holdthefrontpage: “It’s going very well. A year down the line we’re very pleased with it.

“We were showing before we went compact a six per cent decline year on year. Sales have steadily improved through the year (since the change).

“In the first half of 2007 we were the best performing morning title in England, Wales and Scotland, but looking at a decline of one per cent for second half of 2007.

“In the first seven weeks of 2008 we’re showing an increase of 0.1 per cent compared to the previous year.

“I think it’s largely down to the switch, which was a long time coming.”

The Northern Echo’s compact edition

The process of moving the Darlington daily into the 21st century and following many other broadsheets to tabloid printing was a long process for Peter and his team.

They held focus groups and sought as many opinions as they could from readers.

The content has remained largely the same and Peter praised his “strong family of columnists”.

A key to retaining the Echo’s traditional readership was the Saturday compact edition which started printing in January 2006.

This gave management the chance to see how it would be received by the public a full 13 months before they eventually switched to a daily tabloid.

“There was a sign of resistance from traditional readers,” Peter said.

“Although there was a groundswell of opinion favouring going compact. I think we had to be careful to take those (traditional readers) with us.

“But the figures speak for themselves. We’re selling on average 51,500 copies per day.

“It’s a great feeling because it’s a gamble and you never really know how it’s going to pan out until you do it.

“There’s no doubt the feedback is increasingly positive.”