25th anniversary of the Editorial Centre

Marine Court in Hastings - home of the Editorial Centre

It is hard to believe that it is 25 years ago - but this month marks the anniversary of the day my career, and life, changed forever. It was on December 22, 1995, that my wife Pam and I bought the Westminster Press Training Centre in Hastings and changed it into the Editorial Centre. I had worked for WP for 18 years. I started as a reporter on the Shields Weekly News in Tyneside and chief subbed the Evening Despatch before becoming editor of The Northern Echo. Pam worked for the Echo as a promotions executive. In 1993 we moved South for a central management role. Two years later the parent company, Pearson, was looking to sell. As it geared up for the sale, one of the casualties was going to be the pioneering but unprofitable training centre on the seafront in Hastings - the brainchild of Nick Herbert and Bob James. I offered to buy it and, to my astonishment, the company said Yes.

An early Editorial Centre brochure

By the time we signed on the dotted line we had secured enough contracts to guarantee our fledgling business would be profitable for at least its first two years. Those working at the centre - Robin Thompson, Steve Nelson, Frank le Duc, Steve Gladwyn, Sarah Jackson (nee Dixon), shorthand supremo Sylvia Bennett and Anne Scott included - all came with us and helped turn it into a success. The first course we ran in 1996 had 21 trainees on it. In 2016 some of them held a 20th anniversary dinner near King's Cross. Unfortunately Pam and I were out of the country and couldn't attend but Gareth Dant wrote a nice piece about it here.   

The class of 96 at their 20th anniversary reunion: From left with their sponsoring newspaper in brackets: Ashling O’Connor (Bracknell News), Oliver Rowe (Wiltshire Gazette), Don Hunter (Hendon Times), Jo Burch (nee Hillier, Oxford Mail), Guy Jackson (Birmingham Post & Mail), Jonathan Elliott (self-funded), Nigel Davies-Patrick (Brighton Argus), John Weaver (Birmingham Post & Mail), Gareth Dant (D&S Times)

We trained thousands of people, many now award-winning journalists and executives. They include Matt Chorley and Sathnam Sanghera of The Times, Sam Coates and Ed Conway of Sky, Sam Greenhill of the Mail, Keith Poole of The Sun, Matt Nixson of the Express, Sian David of Reach and Denise Eaton, editor of the KMG - to name just a few. We trained in Ireland too and many of today’s senior journalists passed through the training organised by the Irish Examiner. 

That gamble 25 years ago was the start of a huge adventure I could never have predicted. It has seen me work for almost every national and regional newspaper. It has led to jobs in India, China, America, Australia, Malta, the Channel Islands and Ireland and with companies from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Hungary and Russia. We have redesigned more than 100 newspapers and produced live publications with our long-standing partner, designer Mike Brough, and met some amazing people. I will always be indebted to Shamus Donald, the human resources director of WP, who eased the deal through, negotiated an ongoing contract and made it as painless as possible. Without him, none of what happened later would have been possible. So, 25 year ago, just before Christmas, I went to a solicitors in Hastings, signed a document, which was faxed to Newspaper House in London, transferred a bundle of cash and then Pam and I threw a party. 

The Editorial Centre thrived for nine years before we sold it to the Press Association in 2004. Thanks to Paul Potts, Tony Watson, Pat Pilton, Nick Teunon and Steven Brown for setting that sale in motion. We then helped PA absorb it into its own training company, buying the Trinity training centre in Newcastle and establishing centres in London and Howden in East Yorkshire. In 2007 I stood down as training director and set up our new company, SMS, which continued to work with PA. We still work for many media groups, including the Daily Mail whose schemes we run in London, Sydney and, until recently, New York.

It has certainly been a journey. When I was 22 and had to walk down to the river Tyne each day to pick up the fish prices to phone over to the Shields Gazette, I could never have imagined how it would turn out. We owe a big thanks to the many people who have helped and guided us, called on our services or bought me a pint along the way. Here’s to the next 25 years ... I can't wait.