Traditional rivalries between editorial and advertising departments were revived when two senior staff from a regional daily held a newspaper sales contest.

Deputy editor James Higgins and advertising director Frank Stretton from the Barrow-based North West Evening Mail went head-to-head in a competition to sell copies of the paper.

They left their suits and ties in the offices and replaced them with street vendor’s jackets for half a day, taking up positions at opposite ends of the town’s main shopping street, Dalton Road, before battle commenced.

And the contest ended with a victory for Frank, who outsold James two to one by selling 159 papers compared to 75, to keep his sales reputation intact.

James, left, and Frank prepare for their sales contest.

The challenge also had a serious side as the pair took the opportunity to gain feedback from customers on what they thought of the title, which they will use for future improvements.

James said: “We wanted to get a feel for what our newspaper vendors experience during their working day and also establish the degree to which more interaction with the people of Barrow could lead to increased newspaper sales.

“Both Frank and I got some excellent feedback from customers – mostly positive – and returned to the office brimming with ideas for taking our product forward. It was a half day – albeit a chilly one – very well spent.”

Overall sales were up in the town centre on the day of the contest, with the vendor team including James and Frank selling 140 extra copies than usual.

Jonathan Lee, publishing director of the Evening Mail, said: “Like any media organisation we need to be proactive about how we get our content and our products to our audience.

“This initiative by James and Frank was a fun way of gaining important feedback for our business from readers, lapsed readers, and non-readers, and seeing whether an alternative approach would result in increased newspaper sales.”