The start of 2020 was a bleak time for everyone. With the first lockdown in March last year, staff were furloughed and FIRE magazine and digital subscriptions were struggling to rise above 3,000.

First responders were having to rethink their roles and responsibilities at lightning speed to support the public during the first outbreak of Covid-19 as the NHS buckled under intense pressure. Ironically, staff at FIRE – and supporting members of the fire community – had already been working on a new content and business model during the previous few months; the pandemic was the catalyst to make this change happen much sooner. 

By April 2020, as with magazines across the world, advertising revenue at FIRE had fallen off the proverbial cliff. It was the moment one fire journalist wittily referred to as “squeaky bum time”. It was a crisis and Andrew Lynch, FIRE’s long-serving, [and long-suffering! -Ed] Publisher & Editor, had a lot of thinking to do.

Read the full article on our digital issue, page 66-69.

Not yet a subscriber? Sign up to FIRE magazine today from just £35 per year.