Immediate Media release: Gardenersworld.com relaunches website on Immediate Media’s pioneering platform

Gardenersworld.com, the UK’s leading gardening website, has relaunched with a host of exciting new sections including a gardening forum, a fully searchable plant database, exclusive competitions and user profiles and messaging. The new-look site, published by Immediate Media Co under licence from BBC Worldwide, is the first BBC brand to use Immediate Media Co’s innovative in-house web platform that already powers a range of special interest sites, including VisorDown.com, GolfMagic.com and MadeforMums.com.

The relaunch of Gardenersworld.com took place in under two months and the site’s new elements complement its existing popular sections: What To Do Now, Projects and Problem solving, plant profiles and regular blogs. New content has also been added to gardenersworld.com daily, with more exciting commercial developments on the way. Gardenersworld.com has already seen unique users increase year on year by 40% to 450,000 monthly users and it was recently named Website of the Year 2011 at the Guardian Media Guild Awards.

According to Dominic Murray, Publishing Director of Gardeners’ World: “I am very pleased to announce that Gardenersworld.com is the first BBC licensed brand to move onto this award- winning platform. Gardenersworld.com has experienced rapid growth over the past year and the new design combined with enhanced functionality will take the site to the next level. It is now a dynamic, flexible and integrated site – and the perfect platform for us to build further on this year’s success.”

According to Duncan Tickell, Commercial Director of Immediate Media Co:  “This was a truly collaborative project involving editorial, advertising sales and technology  which enabled us to deliver a product, with enhanced user functionality and exciting commercial opportunities all in a very ambitious timescale.”

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Notes to editors

Immediate Media Co is a new force in consumer media and publishing, combining businesses formerly known as BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing and Magicalia. With an exciting mix of market-leading brands, great talent and technology expertise, the company combines a strong publishing heritage with digital platforms and entrepreneurial flair. It publishes some of the UK’s best-known magazines including Radio Times, Gardeners’ World, Good Food, Top Gear, CBeebies, olive, BBC History and Homes & Antiques, alongside highly successful specialist titles including Focus, Perfect Wedding and Junior, as well as leading digital brands such as MadeForMums.com, loveyourhair.com and visordown.com. With 750 staff in London and Bristol, Immediate Media Co. will publish 34 websites and 50 magazines, with over 1 million subscribers, a brand reach of 11 million UK consumers and revenues of £145m per annum. It is owned by Exponent Private Equity. Magicalia was named Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Independent Digital Publisher of the year in 2010 and 2011.

For more information please contact: Toby Hicks on 020-8433-3807 or email toby.hicks@immediatemedia.co.uk