Thebestof

Thebestof burst onto the scene in 2004 as the online version of MyMag, an idea conceived by Sue Botterill. Her husband Nigel has spearheaded Thebestof, now one of the UK’s fastest growing franchises. The company began life by selling franchisees community websites, which they then made profitable through selling advertising to local businesses.

The sites were all inter-connected, which buoyed their web optimisation and meant that, for instance, a butcher in Halifax could get an advertisement for his business at the top of the web rankings. The franchises were cheap (about £5,000) as were the ads, with prices starting as low as £10. It was a win-win for all involved and the business spread across the UK, now covering 362 territories.

Last July the business re-launched and it is through these successful innovations that it picked up the award. Realising that it now operates in a Web 2.0 age, it has developed to offer users and advertisers greater interaction and options. Nigel Botterill explains: “Now you really do have to be the best at what you do to appear on Thebestof. We are flying the flag for recommendation and have become a word-of-mouth specialist.”

Advertisers are now ‘members’ and Thebestof is also organising networking events to bring successful businesses together. The new strategy has boosted both user numbers and revenue.Traffic is rising by about 11% a month, and in January this year it attracted 1.4 million unique users. Also, the few franchises it has left to sell can attract as much as £35,000. Finally, Botterill says he’s determined to only have small or independent businesses on his site. “Lots of big names have approached us, but we’ve resisted,” he says.

Company stats Company: Thebestof Founded: 2005 Founders: Nigel and Sue Botterill Turnover 2006: £4m Turnover 2007: £6m Web:www.thebestof.co.uk