Supplement of the Year
Scroll down to view the nominees for the Regional Press Awards Supplement of the Year.
Entries were judged on outstanding content, design, use of photography and readability of a supplement that is published at regular intervals or to mark a special event or achievement, either with the newspaper or clearly linked to a local or regional paper.
The Shortlist
Back Where We Belong, Express & Star
Supporting statement:
The 2018/19 campaign was an historic one for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Back in the Premier League for just the fifth time in 34 years, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team reached the FA Cup semi finals and finished seventh in the Premier League, qualifying for Europe for the first time since 1980.
Throughout the campaign the Express & Star and Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers were there every single step of the way, gaining unrivaled access to an unforgettable season.
On the back of the sell-out 2017/18 book ‘On Our Way Back’, which sold all 5,000 copies, the Express & Star had no hesitation in commissioning a follow-up to chronicle the 2018/19 campaign entitled ‘Back Where We Belong’.
Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers and group head of editorial art Simon Hill set about compiling and designing a 152-page book acting as a fitting memento,
To tell the story of the season we decided to set the book in chronological order – beginning at the start of pre-season and climaxing in qualifying for Europe, via trips to Wembley and stunning victories over Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
We wanted to capture the uninhibited excitement and thrills and spills of a season that Wolves supporters will never forget, so instead of retrospectively writing about the year it seemed more appropriate to tell the story ‘live’ through Tim’s match reports, written in the present tense, to encapsulate the rollercoaster of emotions as they unfolded.
Tim’s popular player ratings after every match, as well as quotes from fans, players and the manager Nuno, added to the ‘game by game’ experience and we reproduced the league table as it stood for each fixture to help paint a week-by-week picture.
Each game was given a double-page spread, while for the most memorable victories we provided four pages – and then six for the spine-tingling FA Cup quarter-final victory over Man United at Molineux. For the FA Cup semi-final against Watford at Wembley we included 10 pages of reaction and pictures at 30,000 Wolves fans created a sea of gold and black at the home of football.
Chairman Jeff Shi also granted Tim an exclusive six-page interview, while captain Conor Coady provided a foreword.
The design and feel of the book was aimed at being different to a traditional newspaper style, to give it the feel of an authentic and official publication.
The innovative project was a big success, most importantly with fans who gave universal praise for its content and design, but also demonstrated commercial benefits to printers and publishers.
COMMERCIAL
Back Where We Belong was the best-selling book of the year at the Wolverhampton branch of Waterstones, despite only going on sale in June.
Sales of this product surpassed our expectations with various channels to purchase, these included the Wolves club shop, and other selected retailers as well as postal subscriptions via our call centre and website.
The net profit contribution to the business so far is over £20,000 with 4,000 copies sold, a fantastic success.
Judges’ Comments:
A must for every Wolves fan – and anyone truly interested in football. Magical coverage of a sensational season for the team and its supporters.
TdY Magazine, The Yorkshire Post
Supporting statement:
The Tour de Yorkshire is the county’s biggest annual sporting event, a source of pride in our communities and a postcard of the region to a global audience.
Each year The Yorkshire Post’s role in covering the event, promoting it and working alongside race organisers to maximise commercial opportunities, grows.
This is most evident with the annual Tour de Yorkshire official souvenir magazine, a project we first embarked upon for the 2018 race, with this year’s edition in May being the third successive year we have produced this must-have guide in conjunction with the race organisers.
For your consideration we have submitted the 2019 edition which is headlined by an interview with Chris Froome, the four-times Tour de France winner, who was making his debut in the race.
Our relationship with Team Sky/Ineos earned us this sought-after interview, with The Yorkshire Post fostering a contact since before the Tour de France came to the region in 2014 with the biggest name and the most influential team in cycling. Just to emphasise how rare it is to get an interview with Froome, the quotes were later taken by a number of national newspapers.
Further editorial inside the 2019 edition brings a flavour of the different characters who were expected to light up the race, from international superstars like Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet to rising British riders like Hannah Barnes, to the local Yorkshire team in the race.
But this magazine was not just about the cycling. Understanding that a free-to-attend event brings non-sports fans as well as cycling aficionados to the roadside, our souvenir programme gives readers an insight into the cultural events that surround the race, like the Land Art project, the legacy projects around Yorkshire, as well as a guide of where to eat and stay as the race beats a path across the breathtaking countryside and urban thoroughfares of Yorkshire.
Enhancing this editorial is a stunning array of scenic and action pictures produced primarily by The Yorkshire Post’s photographic team and those of the Tour de Yorkshire partner agency SWPix
As with all programmes, a spectator guide is integral for the reader. To produce stage routes, topography and race timings our editorial team worked closely with co-organisers Welcome to Yorkshire and the Amaury Sports Organisation in France to ensure the information provided was as thorough and as accurate as possible, despite the magazine hitting news stands three weeks before the start of the race.
The Tour de Yorkshire magazine is also a big draw commercially, given the county-wide audience and the uplift in community spirit the event inspires.
The commercial team work from months in advance to secure advertising in the magazine with the 2019 edition earning the company nearly £14,000 in commercial revenue.
On top of this, sales of a magazine priced competitively at £2.99 reached in excess of 2,000 copies.
Judges’ Comments:
Obviously proud of Yorkshire and this supplement makes Yorkshire proud. Great design, wonderful articles, what a supplement should be all about.
The Story of the Maidenhead Advertiser
Supporting statement:
The Maidenhead Advertiser’s supplement submission is a single edition, produced to celebrate our 150th birthday. Our team gave up a lot of their free time to mark this occasion, producing a 24-page supplement to celebrate the history and future of a newspaper that has always been an important part of life in the town.
‘The story of the Maidenhead Advertiser’ was published almost 150 years to the day since the first Advertiser, and was designed to be a nostalgic look back at how the paper has changed.
It was also a chance to highlight the work we do in the community, including the charitable trust which owns us and campaigns we have run in the past.
A highlight was a chance to sit down and interview two of the previous editors of the newspaper, who between them had nearly 40 years at the helm. It showed how the paper has evolved and the great deal of affection staff members, past and present, have for the Advertiser.
While it is difficult not to come across as self-serving when producing such a supplement, we tried to make sure it was as engaging to the reader as possible while also celebrating a special occasion for the team.
Every member of our editorial team had something to contribute to the edition, including our sports reporters who produced a fascinating piece on some major sporting stories of the past.
Finally, we looked to the future, to make it clear that while this is a historic moment, it is far from the end for the paper.
The team was extremely proud of the supplement we produced, working with limited resources and producing everything in house. We believe it did the anniversary justice, and the supplement was well received by readers, with a number of goodwill messages.
Judges Comments:
This special supplement shows why the ‘Tiser (The Maidenhead Advertiser) remains at the heart of its community.
Weekend, Express & Star / Shropshire Star
Supporting statement:
Launched in 2013, the Weekend supplement of the Express & Star and Shropshire Star set out with a goal to provide a bumper read in the Saturday’s daily titles.
Seven years on, the 40-page guide has remained true to its roots.
Featuring fashion, lifestyle and entertainment, human interest stories, extensive TV listings for the week ahead and pages of puzzles and games, it provides our readers with content that they can relax with, engage with, enjoy and also be educated by.
The original vision behind Weekend was to give our readers a versatile supplement that would appeal to a range of tastes and a wide demographic.
With a dedicated designer and a passionate team of writers and editors, we are proud to still deliver on this vision, and give those who buy our newspaper a Saturday supplement that is in tune with their interests, reliably entertaining, and fulfils their need for a rich wealth of lighter content that at the weekend they have more time to indulge in.
Weekend is an important part of both of our daily titles, serving as part of our general commitment not only to keep our readers up to date on important issues through our news coverage, but also to entertain and connect with them through lighter journalism.
First submission:
Our special on the return of Peaky Blinders – a series which was filmed at a number of locations within our circulation area.
As a team we were impressed with our cover design and our writer’s feature on the ‘home’ of Peaky Blinders – The Black Country Museum. A double page spread with a design of great flair.
The same writer also interviewed local historian Carl Chinn and investigated the ‘real’ Peaky Blinders, providing a real insight into what it was like for men in such gangs.
Our fashion spread was devoted to style from the period influencing today’s men’s clothing. And our home spread also showed influences from the period.
We also showed how you can get married ‘Shelby’ style.
And our TV guide carried interviews with several of the celebrities who starred in it.
A pretty exhaustive look at Peaky Blinders.
Second submission:
Our special edition celebrating International Women’s Day saw our head of editorial artist create a one-off special design to mark this special day. Our main spotlight was the movement on women in football #Whatif
This included an interview with Jacqui Oatley who is leading a campaign challenging discrimination in football and lobbying for change in the sport industry.
We also featured a double page spread celebrating women who are breaking down gender stereotypes in the world of work.
Away from the special day we carried a feature on a woman who had set up her own business and then battled stage one cancer. An uplifting feature.
Judges’ Comments:
Comprehensive coverage of what to do in the Black Country. Plays a blinder with its features on Peaky Blinders!
Weekend, Belfast Telegraph
Supporting statement:
Weekend is a vital part of our Saturday offering — a 48-page stitch and trimmed publication, free with the newspaper. Celebrity and lifestyle are key elements, as well as in-depth interviews with leading Northern Ireland personalities which often generate exclusive news lines.
The first copy (July 27, 2019) we have submitted includes the first interview with Christine Anderson, the widow of the hugely popular radio star Gerry. Weekend is renowned for its intimate chats and behind-the-scenes photographs, often with access to private family albums. And, five years after her husband’s death, when Christine was finally persuaded to open her heart, she gave a wide-ranging interview about her life with the presenter and also agreed to a photo-shoot which made for a striking front cover. Showcasing a woman looking so well at 70 was brilliantly empowering for our female readers. Weekend also endeavours to reflect the changing face of the “new Northern Ireland”, and on occasion its near neighbour the Republic, and this edition included a fascinating read about couples who have taken a chance on opening boutique B&Bs on both sides of the border.
The second submission (Nov 30, 2019) also features a stunning cover and, again, an exclusive interview, this time with the former X Factor star Janet Devlin, who was persuaded to open up about her sexuality and body image. A second, NI-themed interview was with Aisling Franciosi, star of The Fall, a national BBC drama filmed in Belfast. She talked about her controversial new movie.
Content from Weekend magazine is cascaded online across Saturday and Sunday and performs outstandingly well.
Weekend has three big NI names as columnists. Radio Ulster presenter Kerry McLean has a highly personable style, with her frank observations on work, life and family, while Joris Minne, as NI’s leading restaurant reviewer, is a must-read every week. Paddy McGurgan, our beauty expert to the stars, works well in print and digital too, with his distinctive style bringing a fun touch to make-up tutorials.
The focus is firmly on lifestyle in Weekend magazine and there are also dedicated pages to food, fashion, interiors, gardening, travel and TV. The pages are packed with interviews, advice, shopping tips and bargain buys. Reader competitions on page three of the magazine generate huge reader engagement.
The design of Weekend is driven by a strong contemporary look using a bright colour palette for maximum impact yet retaining an easy to read, clean, classy feel. In reader surveys, it invariably comes out top as a bumper magazine that tells its audience the Weekend really does not start here (though they usually add that its content keeps they reading all week, a fact not lost on its advertisers).
Judges’ Comments:
On local personalities, this lively weekly supplement shines a light on the creative side of Belfast and Northern Ireland.
Your Life, The Press and Journal
Supporting statement:
The emphasis in our Your Life Saturday lifestyle magazine is firmly on local people and local matters. After a redesign around 15 months ago, we took out the vast majority of national features and now work tirelessly to find people across our circulation area who have interesting stories to tell our readers.
From young activists passionate about saving our planet to war veterans sharing their fascinating memories, we cover a vast array of topics in our two big, local interviews each week. After that, the focus very much remains local within our regular platforms on health, fashion, outdoors, travel, books and much more.
We chose these two editions because we think they illustrate our strong regional credentials, but also show how they have a national and international relevance.
The Emeli Sandé edition perfectly demonstrates this, with a local girl who has gone on to become a global star in the music industry. We caught up with her during a homecoming visit to her old school in Alford. We also felt our special edition on International Women’s Day was the perfect opportunity to celebrate a diverse range of strong women with links to our circulation, from the Scottish women’s football captain Rachel Corsie to Scotland’s first female bishop, the Rt Reverend Anne Dyer.
Our readers are the first people we think of when deciding on what features to run and we feel strongly that we bring them a fantastic magazine every weekend and are very proud of our product.
Judges’ Comments:
The shift away from national features to focusing on giving the locals a voice pays off with this lively supplement.
