The Times seeks to be the ‘must read’ for SMEs
News UK wants to position The Times as the daily news resource for small businesses eager to accelerate their growth, in a joint tie-up with Santander that will see the pair offer information, advice and networking resource to the nation’s small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The newspaper brand will launch the activity next week with the strap line ‘Successful Modern Entrepreneurship’ – wordplay on ‘SME’ – that will be composed of three elements in its initial phase.
Firstly, a four-page co-branded supplement in Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper, plus an online ‘SME hub’ containing content from the Times’ editorial team, such as interviews with high-profile entrepreneurs, as well as a series of live events.
The initiative is set to run over a 15 month period, with a further ten editorial supplements, and will also involve a cross-platform campaign to promote the resource.
Santander struck the deal with the News UK title as a means of attracting SMEs wanting to accelerate their growth with both brands seeking to reap the benefit of economic recovery in the UK.
Ashley Golding, solutions manager at News UK, says both Santander and The Times want to “reinvigorate the entrepreneurial” spirit of the nation.
He adds: “We really wanted to position ourselves as the paper for SMEs [and where they can get information to achieve] growth.
“Santander has helped identify high-growth SMEs and they’ll be featured in the editorial content helping businesses set out a 10 point blueprint for success.”
Data released from the Office for National Statistics today (25 October) revealed that UK economic output rose by 0.8 per centre between July and September, the fastest rate of quarterly growth in three years.
