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Over 150 years of history

Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities. Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 22 years. And the Maidstone Telegraph, forerunner of the Kent Messenger, was born.

It was 1859. A loaf of bread was 10 pence (4p). A bottle of gin was 3 shillings (15p). And Maidstone's new paper cost one penny.

The launch of the paper signified the beginning of the Kent Messenger Group, the county's premier media group.

Today, over 150 years later, the company continues to publish weekly newspapers, supplements and magazines but also runs websites, radio stations and other media-related businesses.

In fact, because the KM became so deeply rooted in Kent, parts of the county were dubbed "KM Country" - most appropriate for a county that in 1421 was the birthplace of William Caxton, the father of printing!

One of the Group's titles can trace it's history back well beyond Queen Victoria - almost 300 years to 1717. That was when the Kentish Post, which became the Kentish Gazette, first rolled off the press in Canterbury.

The Gazette series of newspapers was taken over by the KM in 1980, one of numerous mergers and acquisitions which date back to 1890. But throughout the years of expansion, huge competition and massive technological change the KM has remained in the ownership of one family.

Growth

In the 1970s, Messenger House was built on the site of a wartime searchlight battery in Larkfield and served as the company’s headquarters. The site is currently being redeveloped, with our Medway office now serving as temporary HQ.

The Kentish Express, founded in 1855 and based in Ashford, was bought by KM Group in 1971. In 1980, KM Group bought Kent County Newspapers, bringing the Herne Bay Gazette, the East Kent Mercury and the long-established Kentish Gazette into the KM family. The Kentish Gazette was first published as the Kentish Post, the county's first newspaper.

The titles merged in 1768. In 1987, the Sheerness Times Guardian, Faversham News and Sittingbourne News (now the Sittingbourne Extra) were added to the group.

The Group owned a few free newspapers from 1970, but throughout the 1980s, the Extra series, which it started in Thanet, expanded to cover the whole county. Dartford Informer & Maidstone Star also joined the stable of free papers. There are now 7 free newspapers in the series.

Committed to the future of local newspapers, the company has launched two exclusively paid-for titles since 2010. Sittingbourne News Extra and Folkestone & Hythe Express. It has also launched further editions of its established titles. The Sandwich Mercury, an edition of the East Kent Mercury, published for the first time in May 2014.

KM Group also publishes specialist publications such as Kent Business and What's On, a popular weekly guide to events.

Multimedia

KM Group has always been about information. Nowadays, that does not just mean newspapers. It also includes the Internet, radio and other media.

The countywide website Kent Online was launched in 1999 signaling a new era for the company. It has been the UK’s fastest growing regional news network for two consecutive audit periods between June 2013 and June 2014.

KM Group has evolved by supporting and developing new media. Since 2007 KM Digital have sold newspapers online and in 2008 nine local web sites launched as online partners to the group’s newspapers.

The company started to invest in radio in 1999 and in 2001 KM Radio was established. There are now seven commercial local stations across Kent as well as a DAB digital station.

In July 2014 KM Group, in partnership with the University of Kent, was awarded the local television licence for Maidstone and Tonbridge.

The Future

With its integrated multimedia portfolio, the KM Group has shown itself to be the premier media group in Kent and Medway. But never forgets its roots.

KM Group remains committed to serving the county, its people and supporting their communities. Through a network of local offices, the company aims to bring a top quality and comprehensive service to both the people and businesses of the county. Just as it has for over 150 years.