Founder & Editor Oliver Rouane-Williams reflects on the first eight months at the helm of local indie start-up Ipswich.co.uk
Ipswich doesn't need more journalism, it needs change
Few would consider Ipswich a desirable market for launching a media business. It's neither large nor affluent and is hotly contested by Newsquest, Illiffe Media, BBC Suffolk, and two local radio stations.
But around eight months ago, that is precisely what I did – investing a not inconsiderable amount of money in what was essentially one big experiment to create a new kind of media that went beyond traditional publishing and acted as a catalyst for the town's regeneration, restoring civic pride and shaping a better future.
I loosely call it "regenerative media".
Our story so far
We launched in August 2024 and quickly grew from zero to 49,000 visitors in our third 28-day period. Since then we've steadily averaged 51,000 visitors every 28 days. Our daily newsletter has just under 2,700 subscribers, with an open rate of 63% and a click rate of 24%.
Three weeks ago, I was joined by a part-time staff photographer, a civic pride reporter and a community impact reporter – each responsible for driving specific positive outcomes in our community.
Our business model
There are no ads on Ipswich.co.uk and we do not have a paywall.
Instead, we generate most of our revenue from a unique partnership model based on a simple premise: When our town prospers, businesses thrive, and when business thrives, our town prospers.
Right now, 22 organisations fund our journalism through an annual fee—we call this a common purpose levy. In exchange, we make them matter to the communities we serve by making them a part of the solution.
They become a part of our journalistic process and user experience. Their staff share their lived experiences on important topics and issues, and we leverage their expertise to create better content, instill trust, and grow their brand and reputation. We announce every partnership on LinkedIn and advise partners on various local matters.
The model is effective but hardly light-touch and doesn't scale easily, so revenue diversification is key.
I can't share much right now, but our vision extends beyond publishing. Our media platform will serve as the foundation for other non-traditional revenue streams that we hope to launch in the coming months and years.
Key learnings
It's hard to distill a whirlwind of a first eight months into a few quick takeaways, but here's my best shot.
Brand story is crucial. We invested heavily in our brand and obsessed over our brand story, and it paid off. People have really bought into our vision and mission, allowing us to gain a foothold in an incredibly saturated market.
The news cycle is a bastard. We initially intended to publish just 5-8 stories per week. Reality proved different, and we've covered 7-12 stories every weekday from day one. Once you start this cycle, it's incredibly difficult to step back. I don't regret doing it because it's allowed us to grow much quicker, but every day is relentless, and I'm not sure how long I can sustain the 100 plus-hour weeks.
Businesses are not the enemy. I've met hundreds of journalists who turn their noses up at the private sector, and I've never understood why. There are very few markets outside the metro cities and large affluent towns where local journalism can be sustained entirely by reader revenue. Businesses aren't advertisers – they're just groups of readers. Work collaboratively with them, incorporate them into your editorial process, and help them understand why an independent local media is critical to their success. In my experience, businesses are desperate to support independent local journalism, but publishers must demonstrate value.
Focus on what you can control, not what you can't. There is so much negativity and pessimism in this industry. Nearly all of it is justified, but it's exhausting. Google, Facebook, the BBC, government, regulators—they will do what they will do. No one forced us to be journalists or to start publications. We knew the constraints—work within them and find creative ways to work around them. It's brutally tough, but I've learnt to enjoy the challenge and block out the noise.
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