A regional publisher is marking five years of its award-winning investigations unit by recruiting three new journalists.

Archant’s investigations unit, which works independently of its newspapers’ editors, operates from three bases in Norwich, Ipswich and London and the company is aiming to recruit a new reporter in each of the three locations.

Led by Tom Bristow, the unit’s work has won members of its team a Regional Press Award, the Paul Foot Award and an Amnesty Media Award during its existence.

Its work was also highly commended at the 2018 British Journalism Awards and it was long listed for last year’s Orwell Prize.

High-profile investigations it has broken include those into the state of homeless hostels in Hackney and Norfolk County Council’s treatment of care leavers, which led to the authority investing £5m in better homes for vulnerable teenagers.

The unit has also revealed historic abuse allegations at a Norfolk residential school which sparked a police investigation, as well as how a publicly funded enterprise agency diverted funds to a company belonging to its director.

Tom, pictured, said: “When the unit was originally set up under David Powles (now the EDP’s editor), it was a gamble as to whether or not the investment would pay off, but it’s paid off handsomely.

“Our work is in the great tradition of investigative reporting, but with the added edge of today’s digital access to information.

“”We are committed to serious and important journalism that safeguards our readers and holds the powerful to account.

“I’m really looking forward to what the next five years bring.”

To find out more about the roles, email [email protected].