The success story at Tindle Newspapers has continued with pre-tax profits for the year up more than £1m, to £6.4m – an increase of almost 21 per cent.

The rate of growth doubled in the second six months of the financial year compared with the first, and April and May show no signs of slacking off, according to owner Sir Ray Tindle.

He was speaking at a lunch that preceded the company’s formal annual general meeting.

Sir Ray said: “We have now reached 172 weekly and monthly titles. I bought the Sunday Independent from Newsquest and three other papers and group managing director Brian Doel and I launched 25 new titles.

“Almost every paper contributed to our record-breaking total of £6,400,000. This is over £1,000,000 up on the previous year, a trend which is continuing.”

He promised more growth of the company for 2004-5 and said: “Let us continue on the current lines – let us launch more titles and buy if the opportunity occurs.

“We have both a superb team and sufficient resources to do so. That same team and those resources are amply good enough to beat off any competition which may be threatened in any part of our circulation areas, and to counter attack into the opposition’s area.

“We have never run away from a battle. We have never been beaten. Every Tindle newspaper carries in its masthead our coat-of -arms with the words, in Latin, Never Surrender.

“As I have said so many times, the best defence is to attack before the competitor has settled in. I have done that every single time.”

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