Tag Archives: investment

Northern Echo invests £10,000 in bid to ‘save’ Darlington Football Club

Newsquest title the Northern Echo has announced an investment of £10,000 as part of a campaign to try and ‘save’ Darlington Football Club.

The newspaper reports that “the money will be used to buy shares in new company, Darlington FC 1883 Ltd, which hopes to purchase the Quakers and prevent it from being liquidated”.

Peter Barron, editor of The Northern Echo, said: “The paper has been at the heart of the campaign to save Darlington Football Club from the outset and we have decided to make this investment as a further demonstration of our support.

“These are challenging economic times for all businesses and we recognise the sensitivities of making this investment. However, as Darlington’s local paper, we felt it was something we had to do. Darlington Football Club is an important part of our business, supporting sales of the paper, and it is an investment on behalf of our readers.

“The £10,000 will be split over the three phases of the appeal and I sincerely hope we get that far. It certainly won’t be for the lack of effort.”

Company finance search tool Duedil receives further funding

Duedil, which describes itself as the world’s largest database of free company financials, has just finalised a second round of investment from Jonty Hurwitz, the founding CTO of loans firm Wonga.

Duedil is a free tool that all journalists should take a look at, as it provides a hugely valuable way to search for information on company finance, directorships and more.

Duedil’s database lists every company and director in the UK and Ireland allowing anyone to access the information for free.

It has recently added new features including alerting you to which of your LinkedIn contacts may be able to provide information on that company.

In a release, Duedil said it “has ambitious plans to revolutionise the way business information is accessed and used”.

Angel investor Hurwitz, who is investing an undisclosed sum and has a minority stake in Duedil, “has built a team and technology platform that have radically altered the short-term finance market,” the release states.

Founded in 2007 with Errol Damelin, Wonga turned over £74 million in 2009, and is growing every year.

The release states:

With an eye for the next big thing, Hurwitz sees the vast potential for business growth in big data analytics. He will bring both his technical and strategic expertise to Duedil, which he hopes will develop into the premier source of business information in the world.

WAN-IFRA launches initiative to promote investment in newspapers

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is calling on investors for help in its efforts to increase investment in newspapers in developing markets, according to a report by the editorsweblog.

Lack of investment is one of the major problems newspapers face in developing markets. Expanding operations, developing new products, and investing in new staff and printing facilities are the areas where capital is needed the most.

The new Social Investment in Media initiative has been launched by WAN-IFRA in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF). The initiative aims to promote “innovative investing mechanisms in media in developing countries and emerging markets” the report adds.

City A.M.: Capital Ideas group makes bid for Observer

Following recent speculation about the future of Guardian News and Media’s Sunday title, the Observer, City A.M. reports that Capital Ideas, an investment group, has put in a bid for the paper.

The move to buy the Observer for a ‘nominal sum’ would see the title turned into a weekly news magazine and website, with fewer staff, if successful.

Capital Ideas already owns trade titles Compliance and Investing for Growth.

Full story at this link…