A business website launched and run by former regional press journalists has signed up its 100,000th registered user.
TheBusinessDesk.com was launched in Leeds in 2007 by former Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin.
Chris Barry then joined from the Manchester Evening News to launch a North-West version, followed by Marc Reeves from the Birmingham Post who runs the West Midlands portal.
David announced today that the combined operation now has more than 100,000 registered users receiving its daily business news updates.
Staff of TheBusinessDesk.com celebrate the milestone
TBD.com now claims to be the most visited regional business news website in all of its three regions – ahead of regional newspaper sites.
Said David: “We have reached two key milestones: 100,000 registered users across three sites shows how rapidly we are growing user numbers, but crucially we have increased revenues by over 40pc again last year to nudge £1m.
“We have become a valuable tool for entrepreneurs, executives and advisers across three major UK regions and everyday more business people are signing up to receive our service.
“We now have a great platform for expansion within our existing regions and also into new territories should we see the right opportunity.”
The business now employs 14 journalists and chalked up around seven million page views in the past year.
Registered user numbers have reached 47,000 in Yorkshire, 36,000 in the North West and more than 17,000 in the West Midlands.
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Nice job, guys.
PS If you go to tbd.com as mentioned in the article you will land on some kind of Washington DC lifestyle site!!!
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Smoke and mirrors if ever I read it…..the numbers touted by Mr Parkin in the TheBusinessDesk’s own version of the story are hilarious!!
350% turnover growth (obviously, for a start up company!!) and “average reader earns £100K a year”
Is he dreaming?!?!?
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OK, so start-up companies are going to have huge percentage rises in turnover providing they are doing their job, but it seems to churlish to throw stones at a business which is employing journalists and making money.
In addition, since thebusinessdesk a) has a big readership amongst the professional, financial and investment sectors and b) asks for job details, etc. when people sign up, I would imagine the claims of the average reader earning around £100k are, in fact, not wide of the mark.
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Speaking from a very informed perspective, the last time I heard anything Thebusinessdesk was not making money. If you look at (granted) its 2009/10 accounts on Companies House, they do not paint a pretty picture.
As for the £100,000 salary figure, yes a few of the site’s readers do earn those kind of sums, and yes it has a massive readership among the financial, property, professional services and legal sectors….but to claim the “average” readers earns that wage is ridiculous.
I read the story from behind the proverbial sofa!
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