History of the paper

And it all started out as a stapled A4 sheet...

The Southwark News, London’s only paid for, independent weekly newspaper, was born in 1987 – the brainchild of respected journalist Dave Clark.

At the time, Dave had left behind a successful career in national newspapers and was running his own news agency, South East News, out of a rundown warehouse in Hope Sufferance Wharf, Rotherhithe. Collecting stories and selling them to nationals, Dave only had one journalist, Peter Victor, working alongside him. Seeing the need for a local community paper in the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe area, Dave decided to launch an A4 photocopied sheet of paper, and sell it for 20p, hand delivering it to a few newsagents. Peter and friends of Dave thought that the launch of what was then The Bermondsey News was madness – but to everyone except Dave’s surprise, it sold from day one.

The Bermondsey News, as it is still known in that part of the borough, was soon renamed the Southwark & Bermondsey News, and before long became an essential read for locals. Dave then changed it from a fortnightly photocopied sheaf of papers to a glossy A4 magazine. For the first time, photographs appeared on the front page and throughout. This was not in keeping with the competition, who were larger in format and more expensively produced – but Dave’s paper was one man taking on massive media organisations, bringing readers the big stories first and getting underneath the surface, to find out what was really going on in the town hall, magistrates’ court and all Southwark walks of life.

By the start of the 1990s, the Southwark & Bermondsey had become a weekly tabloid newspaper, and realised its final incarnation - the Southwark News - in 1993, much to the dismay of some Bermondsey readers, who were proud of its original name. But Dave argued that, in order for an independent paper to survive, it had to reach out to the whole borough, gaining new readers and vital advertising revenue that paid the growing bills!

The team also grew, including some now better known faces on television and in newspapers. Dickie Davis, now on Sky’s Soccer Saturday; Greg Whelan, also at Sky; Geoff Hill, formerly of ITN and now heading up Setanta’s sports news; ITN reporter Damon Green; former News of the World reporter Charles Begley, to name but a few – all of whom learnt their trade under Dave’s stern but experienced eye, as he taught them to be proper hacks.

For the next five years, the ‘News’ brought the people of Southwark all the hard facts, gossip – and even the racing tips with popular pundit The Shadow joining the weekly columns. The growth of the news sections were matched at the back by bigger sports reports on Millwall, Fisher and Dulwich, dedicated boxing coverage, and sections like In The Dock were talked about in pubs and on the streets of Southwark.

But disaster struck in 1998. Without warning, Dave was taken ill with a suspected stomach ulcer. Within two weeks, the journalists at the paper and those who had enjoyed the start of their careers with the man who brought Southwark its independent voice found themselves mourning his death at St James’ Church, Bermondsey. Dave had died suddenly of cancer.

True to Dave’s philosophy that a local paper is about local people, not those who produce it, his death did not take over the entire front page. Instead a respectful photo announced his departure and a flood of messages and tributes, along with an obituary, featured in that edition on August 20th, 1998, eight days after he passed away.

It was just months since Dave had toasted the tenth anniversary of the ‘News’. And the paper that in such a short period had gained such a large following looked doomed. To many, without Dave Clark, there was no Southwark News.

Paul Roberts, who had been selling all of the advertising at the paper for the past five years, found himself with two young journalists. Kevin Quinn, a Bermondsey lad, arrived at the paper nine months before Dave died. His colleague, Paul Vinnell, had been there for just three months. Suddenly, the trio found themselves facing the question – how do we get a newspaper out without Dave? Even while Dave was in hospital, the paper had of course still needed to be published. In those nerve-wracking first few weeks, and over the next few months, many of Dave’s former longstanding journalists, as well as some who had just left only months before, like Robin Campbell and Matt Smith, found themselves back in the newsroom in Bermondsey. At weekends and during the evening, they would come and lend a hand to the inexperienced editorial team, as the paper went back to fortnightly editions.

By the end of 1998, Kevin Quinn and Paul Vinnell took on the mantle of joint editors, using their short time with Dave as the template for all future editions of the paper. But Southwark News needed investment and Barry Albin-Dyer, who had already invested in the paper while Dave was alive, stepped into the breach, to ensure that Southwark still retained its only independent newspaper. Over the coming years, Barry – the man who runs Bermondsey and Rotherhithe funeral directors, F.A. Albin & Sons, kept the paper afloat, while remaining true to his word and staying clear of any editorial decisions.

In January 1999 Barry hired another journalist, Chris Mullany, as well as an advertising exec, Nilante Hamilton, who later became Southwark News’ first female Millwall reporter. The paper bounced back – proudly going back to weekly editions in the summer of that year. By spring of 2000, Paul Vinnell had moved on to Sky Sports. Now in a much stronger position, Kevin Quinn and Chris Mullany, as joint editors, built up the paper and its circulation. Times were still tough – with a team of four, Kevin, Chris, Nilante and new journalist Anthony Phillips, working 80 hour weeks, including mind-boggling 30 hour shifts every week, with maybe a half hour kip under a desk on press nights. Now in a smoke-filled office in Bermondsey’s old Peak Frean biscuit factory, the team used every resource they could get their hands on – even lifting a few chairs and a fax machine out of a skip to add to existing office ‘luxuries’.

Barry Albin-Dyer, who was keeping the paper going because of his love for Bermondsey, now saw in Chris and Kevin a partnership that could secure the future of the paper. In a scene out of Dragons’ Den, the pair went to the bank, and over a year put a business plan in place to buy out the business. A third investor, David Ellis, brought print and finance expertise to the business, and the trio agreed terms with Barry, with the Southwark News changing hands in the summer of 2002.

Big changes took place almost immediately, with better print quality, the paper going full colour throughout, doubling in size to a 40 pager and even changing the design of the masthead. In the past five years, the paper’s circulation has almost doubled and is now read throughout the borough. In 2004, as the team at the ‘News’ grew substantially, and the area changed dramatically in its makeup, Chris and Kevin decided to launch a sister paper, the Southwark Weekender, which would offer something a bit different to the ‘News’. The Weekender, a free monthly lifestyle paper, was born, and an increasingly popular website has now been added to the business. The ‘News itself is now sold in over 400 newsagents, from Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in the east to Waterloo in the west, and down as far south as Sydenham.

From a team of four, the paper now has a team of fifteen full time staff, with many other part time and freelance employees, and is a thriving, truly independent Southwark business, with a dedicated team of journalists, sales executives and designers. In the second half of its life, since the death of Dave Clark, the paper, now edited by Anthony Phillips, still prides itself on starting the careers of excellent journalists, who have pursued paths as varied as The Times (Will Pavia), Woman Magazine (Megan Welford), Sky Sports (Nilante Hamilton), Crystal Palace FC (Stephen Eighteen) and Reuters (Euan Denholm).

This year, again with the help of Barry Albin-Dyer and another well-respected local businessman, Johnny Donovan, the ‘News’ celebrated its twentieth year in style, with a party in Southwark Park for 500 pensioners, who enjoyed an amazing afternoon of free food and drink, to the sound of old time bands and singers. It was like a scene from street parties of old, and there was no better way to show the gratitude felt by the paper towards the community it serves.

The spirit of London’s only independent paid for newspaper hasn’t changed – the Southwark News is proud to be seen as the independent voice of the borough, speaking up on behalf of its local readers. Still independent – rare indeed in a newspaper world run by massive media groups – and still based in Bermondsey, the Southwark News has forged a reputation for hard hitting stories, balanced reporting and is seen as an essential weekly read.

And none of it would have happened without its readers. Thank you all very much.