Northcliffe has launched its latest region-wide one-stop shop for local business news.

SouthWestBusiness.co.uk will draw in content from its newspaper titles from Gloucestershire down to Cornwall and be edited by Gloucestershire Media’s online business editor Andrew Merrell.

The main new feature is a comment facility, creating a unique virtual business community for the South West, and there is also offers a separate home page for each of the eight areas covered, for example southwestbusiness.co.uk/devon.

The web project, which replaces westbusiness.co.uk, is linked to a companion glossy monthly magazine, pictured left, also called SouthWest Business.

Gloucestershire Media editor-in-chief Ian Mean, who is in overall charge of the project, said it was about creating a website and an in-depth magazine that operate in tandem.

“The website covers breaking business news using all the business reporters and desks from all our daily titles in the South West region and the magazine is more of an analytical tool,” he said.

The launch of the site follows a similar project in the East Midlands, although that is currently web-only.

thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk was launched 12 months ago and brings together stories from The Sentinel, Leicester Mercury, Derby Evening Telegraph, Nottingham Evening Post and Lincolnshire Echo as well as covering Northamptonshire.