Links

e-mail us to add your link here

Salvation Army buys British Bandsman

The Salvation Army, with the approval of the senior leadership of the UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland, has acquired the British Bandsman magazine through Salvationist and Publishing Supplies Ltd. British Bandsman has been published for 117 years and serves the national and world-wide brass band movement in the UK. The announcement comes in the year that the Christian organisation celebrates 125 years of Salvation Army music.

Managing director of Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd, Trevor Caffull, set out the motivation behind the decision. "The Salvation Army is constantly looking for new ways of reaching a wider community and music is one of our methods for achieving that on world-wide scale."

Salvation Army music has been part of the fabric of British society since its inception in the 1870s, notably for playing Christmas music on the streets and through the memories of The Salvation Army's own pop group, The Joy Strings, who entered the charts in the 1960s. Hundreds of children learn to sing and play instruments at The Salvation Army every week, and it has nurtured numerous professional musicians.

On the sale of the British Bandsman, Nicola Bland and Philip Morris, who have jointly owned the magazine for the past four years, said: “We have viewed ourselves as the custodians of British Bandsman which, over the years, has been edited and managed by such luminaries of the brass band movement as John Henry Iles, Herbert Whiteley, Eric Ball and latterly, Peter Wilson.   

“Therefore, our decision to pass it on has not been taken lightly. In reaching it, we were acutely conscious of the need to hand it over to a stable and yet dynamic company with evangelism for the pursuit of brass band performance and music, thereby safeguarding the strong brand that is British Bandsman. We believe that Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd fits all of those criteria."

Nicola Bland continued, "We would like to thank the readers and the marvellous support network of friends and contributors. British Bandsman has represented the greater part of my daily life for over 15 years, in which time it has modernised to reflect the times, whilst keeping a strong ethic of integrity. I'm looking forward to continuing my personal contact with readers and contributors in the coming months as production of the magazine transfers to Salvationist Pubishing and Supplies Ltd."

Trevor Caffull concluded, "We have ambitious plans not just for the development of the magazine, but also for the further development of the British Bandsman brand in other guises. It's important, whilst respecting and affirming a quality of tradition, that we look forward and develop a vision that enables us not just to keep pace, but also to lead in the area of brass band journalism."