- Name /Business Name
My name is David Tingley and the business is Kipper Life Magazines
- What does the business do and who are your customers?
We publish local magazines specifically in the villages of Lindfield, Cuckfield, Hurstpierpoint and Hassocks. They are separate magazines that go to each of those villages. Our customers are mostly small businesses who are hoping to engage with our readership and who want customers or clients in those areas. Each magazine being just about ‘Hassocks’ or just about ‘Lindfield’ means it is quite nuanced and creates something that is quite niche for each of those villages.
The interesting thing is that because of the reputation that our magazines tend to have, customers have said that if you put an ad in the magazine, it is like a referral from a friend, because the readers trust it. So, if you are going to do print ads, it seems a safer bet when the provider is producing specific content for that area. It feels like we know each of the areas pretty well now and the feedback from readers is that they think that too! Which is great!
- What’s the history of the business & what’s your role within the business?
I started Lindfield Life about 15 years ago and since then we have gradually been building the family in that time. We added Cuckfield in 2012, Hurst 2015 and Hassocks 2019. We haven’t been that quick about it – if you were being kind, you would call it organic growth, if you were being critical, you would say lazy!
I guess I am the editor. In truth I have 4 editors who are responsible for the content of each magazine, but I tend to oversee the whole thing. I also do a bit of the advertising side of things, a bit of content and a bit of writing for advertorials. I can sort of turn my hand to anything in the business, so I tend to float between advertising sales and the content, and almost join those two things together.
- How long have you had a private office here and why were you looking for a space like Freshmill?
We started coming here during Covid. In that horrible period of Covid when you couldn’t do anything I was losing my mind at home so as soon as it was legal to do so we (my colleague and I) started coming here hotdesking. Those were the days when you could only sit diagonally opposite! And we really enjoyed it. It just started to become a bit painful when we needed the franking machine etc – the business was still based at home but we were working here.
And then we realised what a great option it would be to have a permanent office here, without the responsibility of looking after the place ourselves. We could put branding stuff up, which, from a designer’s perspective felt good. It felt more ‘us’ than anywhere we had been based before. And I like the community. So when a small office came up in 2021, we took it.
- Why does Freshmill work well for you and your business?
Basically, I have a really hard time being on my own so being here with Sophie (who handles ad sales) two days a week, and then meeting others at the coffee machine, chatting with concierge etc are all interactions which are valuable to me. One thing Covid taught me is that it is possible to run my business from my house, but I hate it!
Freshmill really filled the gap for me and gave me a community that was already built in!
- What is the most important lesson you have gained from your career so far?
Someone told me a long time ago that you should always be nice, because sadly, in business, there are loads of people that aren’t!! And if you can do business and do the right thing than you are probably way ahead of others doing the same as you. I do try to live by that.
- Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
I hope to be doing more of the same stuff. Community is very important to me and the rest of the people who work in my business. I would hope that we can carry on making a difference, all be it small, to the communities we work with.
I do genuinely enjoy what we are doing right now. You get to see some very interesting parts of the communities we work in. I also do all the social media reels which gets me out and about and I really enjoy it. People often say – ‘Oh wow, it must be a really nice job…’ But it actually is!
- What advice would you give your younger self just starting out?
Don’t try and do a physics A level. I’m just going to leave that answer there. Turns out, physics was not my thing!
- What is your favourite quote/mantra?
My mantra is ‘good is good enough’. A lot of the time we get bogged down in the detail and worry that things are not perfect. It is not an excuse to be rubbish, that would be an over-simplification. The point is, don’t let something not being ‘perfect’ stop you doing it. From a work perspective we might have to compromise on something – the space we have for an article, or the time we have to write it, but it is better to get the job done and get something out there, and not to dwell on absolute perfection as a target.
- If you could, who would you switch places with for the day, and why?
I think it would be Taylor Swift’s drummer. I play drums and it looks like in the scenario of those massive world tours that the band are having an awful lot of fun! Unfortunately, I’m not quite as good a drummer as he is! But never say never!