Around 80 journalists have gathered for Archant’s annual editorial conference.

The two-day event allowed staff from across Archant Regional, publishers of the Evening Star, Ipswich, East Anglian Daily Times, Eastern Daily Press, Evening News, Norwich, and around 60 weekly titles, to share ideas on how to take the company forward.

Conference delegates heard from a host of guest speakers, as well as their chief executive John Fry, who told them the future of the group was in the hands of its staff.

He said: “We have a group that is ambitious, that is prepared to spend money and take some risks. It is up to you where we go from here.”

Meanwhile Trinity Mirror Regionals editorial director Neil Benson told delegates how the group had spent the past two years implementing its Biggest to Best programme.

He said the group had set about making the most of its breadth of scale across 244 titles by finding and sharing best practice, producing copy once but using it many times, challenging the way it works and by developing a culture which will enable it to become the employer of choice.

He said: “Every year I have spent in the regional press is more challenging than the last.

“We aim to produce the best papers in the UK, as efficiently as possible using the best people.

“Best practice is not a choice but a must.”

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