Sarah Hartley is production manager for the City titles, and is responsible for 96 publications a year including Bath Life, Clifton Life, Bournemouth & Poole Living, as well as a variety of special city guides. She has been in the print industry for over eight years, starting at Concept Publishing in Bath.
“Initially working in sales, I found that production suited me far better and then around a year ago, I made the move to Surf Media, which was bought in September and renamed Media Clash,” says Hartley.
All of the company’s city magazines and guides are currently printed by MPG Impressions, many on its 10-colour Heidelberg perfector, although the publisher is currently on the lookout for a printer for its new
customer win - a 125,000 print-run magazine, Do Crafts Creativity!
Hartley says: “My goal is to get the best out of our print budget for cost and service. We have a good relationship with MPG and they offer us an efficient and reliable service. It’s important to me to keep up to date with the latest industry news and to regularly compare the prices we pay with those offered by other printers.”
Like any publisher, cost is important to Hartley but so is reliability. “My bugbear is a lack of credible testimonials from previous clients. Feedback from other publishers and from staff plays a big part in our decision-making process, as I’m sure it does for others. Print suppliers could make more of this,” she says.
MEDIA CLASH IN NUMBERS
Based Bath
Founded 2002
Staff 50
Annual print volume 1m magazines
Annual titles 96, including Clifton Life, Exeter Living, Bath Life
Annual City magazine sales £1.6m
UK printer MPG Impressions
Source: Media Clash
Client audit - Media Clash
For a company less than five years old, Bath-based publisher Media Clash is doing well for itself, with annual sales of around 1.6m for its City Magazine division. Founded when former Future chief executive and consultant, Greg and Jane Ingram respectively, bought the controlling interests in Surf Media, it now has four divisions - Digital, Customer Publishing, Business Consultancy and City.
