Picture: Cherry Beasley, Simply C Photography.
A local news start-up which relies on donations and business partnerships for funding has marked its first birtdhay.
Ipswich.co.uk was launched by former Newsquest commercial executive Oliver Ruane Williams in July 2024 after he sank his life savings into the project.
Since then the free-to-air site has attracted nearly 4,000 newsletter subscribers, more than 500,000 visits and 800,000 page views.
The site has no advertising or paywalls and is funded by a combination of individual donations and partnerships with local businesses.
Said Oliver, pictured: “Twelve months ago, I sold my car to buy a domain name. Today, that domain has been visited more than half a million times by people who share our vision of what good local journalism should look like.
“It’s been a year of relentless hard work that has tested my resolve at every turn. But as we celebrate our first anniversary, I can say with complete certainty that every sacrifice has been worth it.
“We still have a long way to go, but in a sector that is all too quick to shout about its woes, I think it’s important to take a step back and acknowledge that what we’ve achieved in our first twelve months is actually pretty decent – especially given that we’re operating in a hugely competitive market that has been dominated by three titles for over a hundred years with a fraction of the resource.”
Ipswich.co.uk was set up in competition with established Newsquest brands the Ipswich Star and the East Anglian Daily Times which both ooperate in the Suffolk town.
To fulfil his life-long ambition of owning a local news organisation in his home town, Oliver invested his life savings of £70,000 in the new business.
A further £90,000 was raised from Ash Read, a local media entrepreneur who previously sold his home interest publishing business for a six-figure sum.
Since then Ipswich.co.uk has published 1,928 stories – an average of 37 per week.
A review of the site’s first year entitled ‘Our first year in numbers’ posted on LinkedIn can be read here.
