The magazine Pig World, established by Guild member Digby Scott, has been bought by a new publishing business Lewis Business Media Ltd, based in Uckfield, East Sussex.
“I formed the company in February 2012 with my wife Elizabeth Lewis, and our son Simon has joined us as financial controller and commercial manager of Pig World,” says John Lewis (right), a former executive director of William Reed Business Media.
“Our plan is to create a new multi-media business based on the four areas in which I have more than 30 years’ experience: magazines, websites, events and data,” he adds. “We’ll have multi-channel revenue streams and not over-rely on any one element of the mix.”
So far, LBM has a contract for publishing Wholesale News, a monthly magazine, website and newsletter on behalf of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, and provides publishing services for The Subpostmaster, the monthly magazine of The National Federation of Subpostmasters. Pig World and its website was acquired in September 2012.
“It is our view that there is a place for specialist magazines for the foreseeable future, especially in areas where there is a recognised need to communicate regularly with a group, such as trade association members, and/or special interest groups,” says John. “All our products have associated websites and offer many options for online coverage and promotion.”
The business also offers data management services and the directors are keen to help in the running of events of one form or another.
“Pig World has been referred to as a unique product and has many strengths, especially in terms of its closeness to readers and the quality of its content,” says John. “We will work to maintain its values with the support of Digby, who will retain involvement in the publication for at least the first six months and hopefully much longer. We intend build on the magazine’s strengths and offer more services to Pig World’s readers and advertisers to complement the existing range available.”
