Former long-standing T&A editor joins Bradford Breakthrough

The longest-serving modern-day editor of Bradford’s award-winning Telegraph & Argus newspaper is the latest recruit to Bradford Breakthrough.

Perry Austin-Clarke, who led the newspaper from 1992 to 2017, left to launch his own PR and communications business, Yorkshire Media Partners Ltd (YMP).

Perry Austin-Clarke

When he decided to step down from the role, Perry was also Yorkshire Group Editor of Newsquest Media Group and was directly responsible for The Press, in York, the Keighley News, Craven Herald & Pioneer, Ilkley Gazette,

Wharfedale Observer, York Herald, Yorkshire Gazette & Herald, Asian Life and Bradford Business Voice as well as a host of associated websites and other standalone publications.

In the year he left, the York Press was voted Regional Daily Newspaper of the Year in the Regional Press Awards and the Telegraph & Argus was the runner-up.

Under his editorship, the T&A raised millions of pounds for charity, including buying Bradford Royal Infirmary’s first MRI scanner and setting up a chair of cancer research at Bradford University which has led to major advances in treatment. In 2015-16, the T&A’s Crocus Cancer Appeal helped raise another £1 million for a mass spectrometer to aid the development of new cancer drugs.

The newspaper campaigned on many important Bradford causes, including dangerous driving, forced marriages, abuse of NHS staff among many others and was outspoken on racial equality. It received three awards from the Commission for Racial Equality for its sensitive and insightful reporting of equality issues, including the two Bradford riots and their aftermath.

Many people will also know Perry from the Bradford Means Business Awards, which he launched and hosted for many years, along with the Bradford & District Schools Awards.

Perry served on the Press Complaints Commission – the forerunner of IPSO – for six years.

Yorkshire Media Partners has rapidly established itself as a trusted and reliable PR and communications business, with clients ranging from Exa Networks to Skipton BID to Bingley Business Expo and charities such as QED UK, Yorkshire Asian Young Achievers (YAYAs) and Children & Families Across Borders on its books.

YMP also became the official PR and communications partner of Bradford Business Improvement District (BID), after running the 10-month campaign which led to it achieving a substantial ‘YES’ vote in the ballot of 630 city centre businesses at the end of 2018.

Perry said: “I have had a long-standing relationship with Bradford Breakthrough, which launched shortly before I became editor of the T&A, and I am very happy to be bringing my own company into membership.

“I have a passionate interest in Bradford and its future and I believe Breakthrough is a very important voice in helping to shape it as well as a vital touchstone for the opinions, knowledge and aspirations of the city’s senior leaders, who have a vested interest in its success, both culturally and economically.”