It was a hundred issues ago today that Lincolnshire Pride was first published, and with the publication going from strength-to-strength, this month, we’re indulging ourselves a little by revealing the story behind Lincolnshire’s only High Society magazine.

Lincolnshire News: From Early Beginnings

With over 20 years of publishing experience behind him, Lincolnshire Pride’s Julian Wilkinson began Whitespace Publishers, home of Lincolnshire Pride, in 2002. At this point, the publication was a decidedly skinny 64 pages and was produced from a small studio in Boston.

A former printer and typesetter, Julian’s first business was markedly different; the owner of a paintball site on the East Coast. Frustrated by the lack of a publication to promote Skegness and the East Coast, Julian simply produced his own. Still today, Whitespace Publishers creates The Skegness and East Coast Visitors’ Guide, a rather more developed successor. Planning his wedding in the early 1990s, Julian once again saw a gap in the market and created a local wedding magazine. Lincolnshire Bride & Groom magazine is also still published annually every January, and part of its distribution is by the Church of England to couples getting married in the county, in return for an annual charity donation to the Bishop’s Discretionary charity fund.

“I always wanted to produce a county magazine, though.” Julian confesses. “I launched a tabloid newspaper, the Boston Focus — formerly known as The Puzzler — but newspapers were really text heavy and it was always an ambition to produce a luxurious, colourful glossy county magazine instead.”

Lincolnshire Pride presented the opportunity to do just that and the first edition launched in August 2002. Just one year later, the magazine was relaunched in a new format, a necessary step given the increase in pages that was a direct result of the increased popularity of the magazine both to readers and customers.

“The aim behind Lincolnshire Pride in the beginning was to produce a really exclusive modern magazine that concentrated on all the good things happening in Lincolnshire at the time.” says Julian. “As a Lincolnshire lad, and with a Lincolnshire born team behind me, we set out to revamp the county magazine format in Lincolnshire and have continued to do so ever since.”

Growing in popularity, a redesign of the magazine in January 2009 reinvented the county magazine format in Lincolnshire once more. With a luxurious matte format, bespoke size and new identity as the county’s High Society magazine, the new format enhanced the publication’s High Society pages and introduced ‘fine art’ photography covers designed to look more opulent on the coffee tables of Lincolnshire’s most discerning readers.

Challenging Rob

Lincolnshire Pride’s Editor for the past eight years, Rob Davis is a huge fan of the county, and has lived here all his life, working on the magazine to write, take pictures for the publication and design its editorial pages.

“I’m naturally nosey — always a good quality for a journalist — but I do love people, and that’s another important quality.” he says. “Everyone I meet has a story to tell and a background, and it’s fascinating to find out what makes people tick.”

“The best compliment for the magazine and the biggest pleasure for me is seeing the same clients time and again, which demonstrates they get a response and so re-book, this ensures we get to know one another, and enjoy good working relationships.”

One of the quirkiest features was the Challenge Rob articles, which ran from 2006-2009. The idea behind the feature was to find the most dramatic, quirky or dangerous jobs and hobbies.

Over the three years the feature ran, Lincolnshire Pride travelled across the county, training with the SAS, painting the top of the Humber Bridge, working as a butler at one of the county’s stately homes. We also raised awareness of

Lincolnshire’s Air Ambulance by posing as a patient — resulting in several concerned calls from readers who mistook the staged ‘accident’ as real.

“I enjoyed Challenge Rob, but after three years and with the new format we all felt it was time it was retired.” says Rob. “The most infamous feature was a skydive over Brigg, which was terrifying at the time and resulted in some pretty embarrassing photos, but it was an amazing experience in retrospect, and definitely served to show off Lincolnshire’s landscape of patchwork fields and big skies.”

A Close Team

Lincolnshire Pride has always had a close-knit team, with Sales Manager Cathy Taylor living with husband Andy in Sleaford, and Sales Executive Zoie Wilkinson a doting mum to children Joseph and Harvey.

Meanwhile, Graphic Designer Mandy Bray is a real fashion expert, creating Lincolnshire Pride’s fashion section each month and Accounts Manager Sue Bannister loves spending time in the countryside with husband Roger.

Charlotte Aiken is the newest member of the team. Her responsibility is to look after customers across the whole porfolio of magazines and websites produced by Whitespace Publishers.

A move to Elm Grange Studios in East Heckington in 2008 saw the company relocating to beautiful converted barns in open Lincolnshire countryside, with plenty of space for both Whitespace Publishers’s magazines and its website, ukbride.co.uk.

Lincolnshire News: Our New Website

September 2010 saw a complete redevelopment of Lincolnshire Pride’s website, making it easy to access past articles and even easier to purchase photographs from the High Society events we attend.

Images are now available to purchase in hard copy format — rather than as digital downloads — from our professional photo lab to ensure the highest quality prints possible.

A Pleasure and a Profession

“We’re delighted, of course, to produce a magazine that’s so commercially successful... but that’s by no means the only reason we’re proud of our magazine.” says Julian. “We’re proud of our county, and enjoy reporting about all that makes Lincolnshire such a great place to live. We’ve some really great ideas to take Lincolnshire Pride to the next level over the next 12 months... so watch this space!”

For the most up-to-date Lincolnshire news, pick up the latest edition of Lincolnshire Pride Magazine!