Shropshire Star

What Shropshire Star does

Shropshire Star is a regional newspaper and digital news platform serving readers across Shropshire, Telford, Mid Wales, and the surrounding West Midlands regions of the United Kingdom. It is operated as a trading brand by Iconic Media Group Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 11499982), with its registered office at 22 Princes Street, London. The platform is structured as a unified content portal organized by topical sections — including News, Sport (with dedicated coverage of Shrewsbury Town FC and AFC Telford United), Business, Farming, Education, Property, Opinion, What's On, Nostalgia, and Environment — rather than as a portfolio of distinct product modules.

The business distributes content through its website (shropshirestar.com), a print newspaper, email newsletters, and social media channels (Facebook, X, Instagram), with a hosted public notices portal as an additional regulated content vertical. There is no native mobile app and no public API or SDK. The revenue model centers on advertising combined with a direct-reader Plus subscription that provides full access to the site's journalism on a monthly billing cadence; specific subscription pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed. Marketing and audience development are executed via the website, newsletters, and the three social platforms, with subscription prompts and news alerts deployed to drive conversion.

Name

Shropshire Star

Legal name

Iconic Media Group Ltd

Website

https://shropshirestar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shropshire Star is a regional UK newspaper and digital news platform serving readers across Shropshire, Telford, Mid Wales, and the West Midlands, operated by Iconic Media Group Ltd and monetized via advertising and a paid Plus subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional / Local News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Local news coverage
• Regional journalism
• Digital news platform
• Newspaper publishing
• Community news

Headquarters

HQ city

Shrewsbury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Shropshire Star is a regional newspaper and digital news platform that publishes local news, sport, business, farming, opinion, and community content for readers in Shropshire, Telford, Mid Wales, and the surrounding West Midlands. It distributes content via its website (shropshirestar.com), a physical newspaper, email newsletters, and social media channels, and offers a paid Plus subscription for full access to its journalism.

Product overview

Shropshire Star is a regional newspaper and digital news platform offering comprehensive local news coverage. The website functions as a single, unified digital news product providing content across multiple topical sections including News, Sport (covering football, cricket, boxing, rugby, golf), Business, Farming, Opinion, What's On, Your World, Property, Education, Nostalgia, and Environment. The offering is structured as a content portal organized by topic sections rather than distinct product modules or tiers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shropshire Star Website A regional news website providing local news, sport, business, farming, opinion, and community content for readers in Shropshire, Telford, Mid Wales, and the surrounding West Midlands.
• Shropshire Star Print Newspaper A physical regional newspaper distributed to readers in Shropshire and surrounding areas, covering the same local news, sport, and community content as the website.
• Shropshire Star Plus Subscription A paid subscription offering that provides full access to Shropshire Star's journalism for individual readers seeking unrestricted coverage of local news and sport.
• Shropshire Star Email Newsletters Email newsletters delivering curated local news, sport, and community updates to subscribers of Shropshire Star.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Manchester Evening News: Reach plc's flagship regional title serving Greater Manchester with one of the largest UK regional digital audiences. Relevant as a benchmark for how a UK regional title can scale a digital subscription product in a defined geography.
• Express & Star: Express & Star is a major West Midlands regional daily covering Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. It is a direct competitor to Shropshire Star for both readers and local advertisers across the West Midlands footprint.
• Wales Online: Wales Online is the leading digital news platform serving Wales, with broad regional coverage. It directly overlaps Shropshire Star's Mid Wales coverage area and competes for the same Welsh-border readers and local advertisers.
• Yorkshire Post: Yorkshire Post is a long-established UK regional newspaper serving Yorkshire with both print and digital editions, covering news, business, and sport for a defined UK region. It is directly comparable to Shropshire Star as a regional daily with a subscription-led digital model and similar local advertising dynamics.
• Birmingham Mail: Birmingham Mail is a regional UK newspaper serving the West Midlands with a print and digital presence. It overlaps Shropshire Star's West Midlands readership catchment and competes for the same regional advertising and subscription wallet.
• Stoke-on-Trent Live: Reach plc's regional digital title for Staffordshire, with print and online editions covering local news and sport. Comparable to Shropshire Star as a UK regional news brand pursuing a digital subscription model.
• Eastern Daily Press: Eastern Daily Press is a long-standing UK regional daily serving Norfolk with print and digital editions. Comparable to Shropshire Star as a regional newspaper brand with a local subscription offering and similar structural challenges.
• Shrewsbury Chronicle: Shrewsbury Chronicle is a hyper-local weekly serving Shrewsbury and parts of Shropshire. It competes head-to-head with Shropshire Star in the same Shropshire catchment, covering overlapping community news, sport, and courts.

Broad incumbents

• Reach plc: Reach plc is the UK's largest regional news publisher, operating titles across England and Wales. It is comparable as a portfolio owner of regional news brands, with shared back-office, ad sales, and digital subscription infrastructure analogous to Iconic Media Group.
• Newsquest Media Group: Newsquest is a major UK regional newspaper group publishing hundreds of local titles across England, Wales, and Scotland. It is comparable to Iconic Media Group / Shropshire Star as a multi-title regional publisher with similar cost structure and digital transition challenges.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shropshirestar
• Facebookfacebook.com/ShropshireStar
• Instagraminstagram.com/shropshirestar
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shropshire-star

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shropshire Star