Expanding Black Ox Media & Events appoints Regional Business Editor
Black Ox, publishers of The Business Magazine, has appointed a Regional Business Editor to spearhead the roll-out of county-based ‘BizNews’ websites.
Laura King joins Camberley-based Black Ox Media & Events on April 17.
Her appointment follows Black Ox’s acquisition of DorsetBizNews in January 2023 and the announcement that it plans to launch several BizNews sites over the coming months.
The first - HampshireBizNews – is due to go live on April 25.
Laura has worked across print and online media, focusing on building communities, traffic and audience engagement through sites, forums and social media.
Her experience includes B2B (business to business) magazines, and titles covering subjects as varied as canal boats to automotive logistics and engineering, as well as tabloids.
She has spent the last seven years working at the Mail Online, latterly as Communities Editor, managing a team of twenty plus people.
Laura said: “I have heard such great things about the ambitions, scope and culture of Black Ox and its publications.
“I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone I get to work closely with, both within the company and as hardworking business owners in the community."
Stephen Emerson, Managing Editor, Black Ox, said: “We are delighted to welcome someone of Laura's calibre to the team.
"We have big ambitions for our network of BizNews sites and believe that Laura's experience will be a driving force in growing what is an exciting project in local business journalism."
Black Ox publishes the monthly business title, The Business Magazine, covering the Central South, Solent and Thames Valley area.
The company’s footprint was expanded in May last year following the acquisition of Gloucester-based NK Media, publishers of Business & Innovation Magazine.
It enabled The Business Magazine’s traditional South East reach to be extended into the South West.
Video production house Sightline was also acquired by Black Ox in April last year in a move to increase the breadth of services available to advertisers.
Following Laura’s appointment Andrew Diprose, Founder and Editor of DorsetBizNews, will retire on June 30 after a media career spanning 44 years.
