New-look Press scoops prize for its first-day celebrations

Judges at parent company Newsquest gave us first prize in the Launch Of The Year category at a ceremony held in Weybridge, Surrey.

They were impressed by the commitment of teams from different parts of the business which came together to launch our bright new paper on September 6 last year - after 122 years of publishing.

Evening Press editor Kevin Booth said he was "delighted" to win the honour.

He said: "It reflects the team work and commitment that went into the project from both newspaper sales and editorial - and the marketing done by the sales promotion department."

Vickie Henderson, head of circulation, marketing and transport, added: "It was a team effort, and we also had the support of our retailers, who helped make the launch such a success."

Months of planning went into the new-look paper before it finally arrived on the streets last autumn.

We created a "war room" where senior design staff were locked away to come up with the new look and work on dummy editions.

A competition for staff to come up with a new slogan was organised. The winner, who dreamed up - "Easy to pick up - hard to put down" - was presented with champagne and a framed certificate.

A host of activities celebrated the actual launch-day, including a reader competition to win a compact car.

Local celebrities, including York panto dame Berwick Kaler, turned out to sign first edition copies, and mime-artist Mr Yellow abandoned his usual colour to sport the Evening Press's red and black.

Readers were offered a boxed set containing final copies of the historic broadsheet editions and the new compact ones.

Back at the office, a giant cake was ceremonially cut for nearly 400 staff, who posed for a commemorative group photograph.

The former editor of The Sun, David Yelland, whose parents live in the York area gave a speech at the awards ceremony. The runner-up in the category was the Brighton Evening Argus.

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, March 16, 2005