There's a 'News' Addition to the Total Family

Total Guide to Ltd are pleased to announce a new addition to the Total family with the expansion and launch of a brand new custom-built News website.

totalnews.co.uk has been rolled out as a sister site to Total Guide to Swindon, the town’s online lifestyle bible, and a brand which has branched out geographically into Bath, Bristol, Reading and Manchester during three years of rapid growth.

The major new news content offering from the company will also be introduced to these areas after debuting in Swindon.

While the primary focus will be on sourcing hard and breaking news from in and around the town, that output will be complemented by lighter features and opinion articles with regular contributions from a variety of people with something to say - from politicians to local experts, critics and bloggers.

The new news site will be spearheaded by Craig Lyus, former digital editor at the Swindon Advertiser and Swindon Link.

Lyus said: “Having come from a background of juggling print with online output it is always difficult to get the balance right, whether it be taking your eye off the digital ball to hit a print deadline or holding something back from the website to maximise print sales.

It’s very refreshing to be in a position to pour every ounce of focus, energy and resource into a purely online product, and hopefully the people of Swindon will be the beneficiaries because we will have an engaging news site that is constantly updated, throughout the day, seven days a week. We won’t go into semi-hibernation at the weekends or on bank holidays - dozens of articles and fresh content will be uploaded every day.

We also want the local people to get involved. Send us your stories, share a blog, give us your feedback and connect with us on social media where we’ll always be happy to engage.”

Lyus moves over from sister company Link, owned by James Phipps, who is also a shareholding director of the Total brand.

The Link’s own web offering will continue to operate, but with a concerted focus on its evolving print output.

Liz Ledger, managing director of Total, said: “We’ve grown rapidly since Total Guide launched three years ago and now have multiple sites live across the country including Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Reading and Manchester.

Despite all of our successes and recognition, we’re still really just at the start of the Total journey.

Our plan has always been to launch a News and Sport section but I wanted the sites, client base and business model to establish before we developed these further.

The last six months have been fantastic for us so it was clear the time was right to introduce these exciting new areas to Total.

James, my business partner is also a shareholder of Link so we made the decision for Total Guide to Ltd to cover all aspects of digital media and Link to offer print media - focusing on the areas we do best.

Both businesses are working together closely to bring a stronger proposition for both our users and clients."

You can visit the new site over at www.totalnews.co.uk.