The Morpeth Herald is celebrating after its photographer Jane Coltman picked up a top honour at its parent company’s annual awards last night.
Jane was named Weekly Photographer of the Year at the second annual Johnston Press (JP) Group Awards presentation evening.
Herald editor Paul Larkin said: “I am delighted for Jane, she richly deserves this accolade. Her portfolio of photographs was first class and showed off her range of skills. She has consistently produced high-quality pictures for the Herald and its sister paper Northumberland Gazette for many years and is a well-respected figure in the community.”
Jane was over the moon with the gong. She said: “The best part of working on a local newspaper is the rapport you build with readers. I have been taking pictures in Alnwick for 30 years and I have made many friends along the way. It is fantastic to have your work recognised with an award.”
The paper’s publishers, Northeast Press, beat off tough competition from other units across the country to be named Publishing Unit of the Year. The accolade, sponsored by Mediaforce, was one of a clutch of awards won by our publishing unit.
The ceremony was a fantastic celebration of some of the terrific achievements of publications in the Gazette’s parent group JP during 2013.
Northeast Press (NEP), which encompasses papers including the Morpeth Herald, Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette and Hartlepool Mail and associated websites, was named winner, with the Midlands unit as runner-up.
NEP also won the Best Publishing Unit Sales Team award, sponsored by NRS Media, beating competition from the JP Media Sales Centre.
Trophies were presented in 44 categories during the event, which was held during a glittering ceremony at Oulton Hall Hotel, in Leeds.
Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “It was a real delight to be able to recognise such a wide range of outstanding performances by our colleagues.
“I’m sure there are lots more success stories happening around the business, but these awards gave us the chance to shine the spotlight on some of the best from 2013 - and also to reward hard work, dedication and innovative thinking on an individual and team basis.
“Based on the enthusiasm, dedication and commitment we saw last night our company is certainly in safe hands.”
We were also named the winner of the Sales Team of the Year (Local Display and Features), sponsored by Amplify, closely followed by the South Publishing Unit.
And we were named runner-up in the Sales Team of the Year Property title, narrowly missing out to the North West Property Team.
Kelly Wardley, from the unit, was named Best Digital Sales Person.
Newspaper Sales Team of the Year went to the North East Newspaper Sales Team, which was also runner-up in the Innovation in Newspaper Sales category, sponsored by Endava.
The unit’s marketing manager Debbie Mitchell was named runner-up for Best Supporting Role in the Business.
Jackie Smith, who also works for NEP, was one of five winners of the Chief Executive Award.
Stephen Plews, NEP managing director, said: “The North East publishing unit enjoyed a phenomenal evening at the JP annual awards. We had finalists in ten categories winning seven, including the coveted publishing unit of the year. The team in this unit are extremely passionate and talented and this success is just reward for their efforts in 2013.”
FULL LIST OF AWARDS
PUBLISHING UNIT OF THE YEAR
Winner: North East Publishing Unit
Runner-up: Midlands
TITLE OF THE YEAR, OVERALL
The Gazette (Blackpool)
TITLE OF THE YEAR, DAILY
Winner: The Gazette (Blackpool)
Runner-up: Edinburgh Evening News
TITLE OF THE YEAR LARGE, WEEKLY
Winner: Banbury Guardian
Runner-up: Wigan Observer
TITLE OF THE YEAR SMALL, WEEKLY
Winner: Bourne Local
Runner-up: Deeside Piper
MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR
Winner: etc Sussex
Runner-up: The Star Business magazine, Sheffield
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, DAILY
Winner: Aasma Day, Lancashire Evening Post
Runner-up: Alan McEwen, Edinburgh Evening News
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, WEEKLY
Winner: Jill Buchanan, Falkirk Herald
Runner-up: Helen Beighton, Mansfield Chad
TRAINEE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, DAILY
Winner: David Sharman, The Gazette (Blackpool)
TRAINEE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, WEEKLY
Winner: Amanda Devlin, Leighton Buzzard Observer
Runner-up: Olivia Lerche, Chichester Observer Series
SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, DAILY
Winner: Richard Fidler, The Star, Sheffield
SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR, WEEKLY
Winner: Phil Wilkinson, Wigan Evening Post/Wigan Observer
Runner-up: Derek Bish, Anglia Newspapers
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR, DAILY
Winner: Simon Hulme, Yorkshire Post/Yorkshire Evening Post
Runner-up: Paul Jacobs, The News, Portsmouth
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR, WEEKLY
Winner: Jane Coltman, Northumberland Gazette & Morpeth Herald
Runner-up: David Lowndes, Peterborough Telegraph
STORY OF THE YEAR IN PRINT & DIGITAL
Winner: The Gazette (Blackpool)
Runner-up: Callum Jones, Northampton Chronicle & Echo
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Winner: Edinburgh Evening News, Save Our Police Stations
Runner-up: Northamptonshire Telegraph, Rushden Lakes Shopping & Leisure Complex
EDITORIAL DESIGN AWARD
Winner: Michelle Kilner, Sheffield editorial design hub
Runner-up: Kathryn Lovelock, Peterborough editorial design hub
COMMERCIAL CREATIVE AWARD
Winner: Sarah O’Neill, Group Creative Services, North West
Runner-up: Peter Hammond, Midlands
BEST PUBLISHING UNIT SALES TEAM
Winner: North East Publishing Unit
Runner-up: Media Sales Centre
SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR PROPERTY
Winner: North West Property Team
Runner-up: North East Publishing Unit
SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR MOTORS
Winner: North West Motors Team
Runner-up: Yorkshire
SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR (Local Display & Features)
Winner: North East Publishing Unit
Runner-up: South Publishing Unit
BEST SALES TEAM FOR DIGITAL SALES GROWTH
Winner: Yorkshire Publishing Unit
Runner-up: Dealmonster, Digital
BEST DIGITAL SALES PERSON
Winner: Kelly Wardley, Key Account Manager, North East
Runner-up: Rebecca Rowe, North West Digital Sales Team
BEST SALES PERSON
Winner: Michael Rhodes, Account Manager, South Yorkshire & Peaks
Joint runners-up: Kim Ives, Key Account Manager, Midlands & Bethany McKay, Key Account Manager, Midlands
BEST SALES MANAGER
Winner: Julia Vethakkan, Advertising Manager, Midlands
Runner-up: Joanne Gardner, North West Property Manager
BEST SALES NEWCOMER
Winner: Duncan Liddle, Media Sales Consultant, Yorkshire
Runner-up: Chris Quinn, Southern Recruitment Area Manager, Digital
BEST SALES SUPPORT PERSON
Winner: Anne-Marie McGuigan, North West Customer Support
Runner-up: Ben Brierley, Senior Customer Support Executive, Midlands
BEST SALES AGENT (Media Sales Centre)
Winner: Tracey Fleming
Runner-up: Michael Eccles
BEST SALES TEAM LEADER (Media Sales Centre)
Winner: Janice McKewan, Scotland
Runner-up: Rebecca Harris
BEST RECRUITMENT SALES AGENT (Media Sales Centre)
Winner: Roisin Kelly
NEWSPAPERS SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR DAILY
Winner: News Letter, Ireland
Runner-up: Yorkshire Publishing Unit
NEWSPAPERS SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR WEEKLY
Winner: North East Newspaper Sales Team
Runner-up – North West Newspaper Sales Team
NEWSPAPERS SALES SUBSCRIPTIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR DAILY
Winner: Yorkshire Publishing Unit
Runner-up: South Publishing Unit
NEWSPAPERS SALES SUBSCRIPTIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR WEEKLY
Winner: South Publishing Unit
Runner-up: Yorkshire Publishing Unit
INNOVATION IN NEWSPAPER SALES
Winner: Susan Tyler-Stringer & Claire Wardle, Yorkshire Publishing Unit
Runner-up: North East Newspaper Sales Team
NEWSPAPER SALES CUSTOMER SERVICE/RETENTION AWARD
Winner: Sarah Hill, Yorkshire Publishing Unit
Runner-up: Letitia Holder, South Publishing Unit
DATA CAPTURE AWARD
Winner: Catherine Grimwood, North West Business Control & Marketing Support Manager
BEST SUPPORTING ROLE IN THE BUSINESS
Winner: Rebekah Avill, Performance Manager, Media Sales Centre
Runner-up: Debbie Mitchell, Marketing Manager/BCPM, North East Publishing Unit
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Winner: The Star editorial team, Sheffield
Runner-up: Northampton Chronicle & Echo
BEST USE OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Winner: joint entry Digital Product Team & The Scotsman/Edinburgh Evening News
Runner-up – Whitby Gazette
INNOVATION AWARD
Winner: Bourne Local
Runner-up: The Star, Sheffield
COMMUNITY INITIATIVE AWARD
Winner: The News, Portsmouth, Highbury College Classroom in the News
Runner-up – Isle of Man Newspapers, Awards for Excellence
CHIEF EXECUTIVE AWARD (five winners)
Colin Winkles, Portsmouth Web
Nicholas Carte, Group IT
Jackie Smith, North East & Yorkshire
Joanne Broughton, North West
Charlotte Whitehill, Midlands