Peter Sands — profile

Peter Sands has worked in regional newspapers for almost 30 years as writer, editor, executive, entrepreneur, trainer, designer and consultant

He began his journalistic career in  1977 as a graduate trainee on the Weekly News in his home town of North Shields.

Two years later he moved to Darlington where we worked on The Northern Echo and the late Evening Despatch, becoming editor of The Northern Echo at the age of 34.

During his editorship the paper was redesigned, taken into colour and won a string of awards including the National Design Award and the Campaign for Freedom of Information Award.

After four years he was promoted to the senior executive team at Westminster Press where, among other roles, he was a director of UK News.

In 1995, when Pearson was in the process of selling Westminster Press, Sands bought the company’s award-winning training centre in Hastings. He transformed it into the Editorial Centre, a training, design and consultancy business serving newspapers and magazines.

Since then he has redesigned 80 newspapers and magazines, trained countless journalists, helped run the Daily Mirror’s Academy of Excellence, set up journalism diplomas in Ireland and the Channel Islands and assisted newspapers in their strategic approaches.

In 2004 Sands sold  50% of the Editorial Centre to The Press Association and he is now director of Press Association Training.

Sands sits on the judging panels for the Northcliffe Newspapers CEPA Awards and the British Press Awards and was recently appointed chairman of the judges in the Regional Press Awards.