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{{about|the British publisher|the Michigan newspaper|Argus-Press}}
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'''Argus Press''' was a British [[Publishing|publishing company]]. It was acquired by [[British Electric Traction]] (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested [[Management buyout|management buyouts]] of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET. The acquisition was of particular note as the publisher [[Robert Maxwell]] was among the rival bidders, and widely considered as capable of out-witting the management team. Only an eleventh-hour intervention by Earl – exposing members of Maxwell's secret consortium as rival newspaper publishers which meant Maxwell would fall foul of the [[Competition Commission|Monopolies Commission]] – brought success for the management team. The new company traded under the name of Team Argus. Its portfolio of businesses included the largest group of paid-for and free weekly newspapers in the UK, an extensive range of business titles in the UK and the USA, and a group of specialist hobby-interest magazines in the UK. Team Argus businesses were sold off to various buyers during the early 1990s.

==Argus Newspapers==
The newspaper division of the company, Argus Newspapers, was built up into the UK's largest group of weekly paid and free newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s by chairman Norman Richards and his successor Kimble Earl. Their philosophy was to act under the radar, shunning publicity whilst they acquired and launched throughout [[London]] and [[Southern England]]. They were renowned for cutting unnecessary costs whilst insisting on competent editorial coverage, believing it to be the only reason the public would continue buying or reading. At its peak, the group published and printed over a million copies per week. Argus Newspapers were pioneers in the joint-publishing of paid and free newspapers in the same town. Among the titles were ''[[Reading Chronicle]]'', ''[[List of Reach plc titles|Surrey Mirror]]'', ''Sutton Herald'', ''Walthamstow Guardian'', ''[[South London Press]]'' and ''[[List of Reach plc titles|The Crawley News]]''.

Argus Newspapers was purchased by Trinity International Holdings (later [[Trinity Mirror]]) in 1993, who immediately sold a number of titles to other provincial press publishers.

== Argus Specialist Publications ==

The hobby magazine division of the company was Argus Specialist Publications. Among its titles were several devoted to [[model engineering]], photography, woodworking, and other hobbies and interests. It published several computer magazines for popular [[Home computer]]s including ''[[Commodore Disk User]]'' (November 1987 – October 1991), ''[[Your Commodore]]'' (October 1984 – October 1991), ''Computer Gamer'' (April 1985 – June 1987),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Argus Specialist Publications Ltd - C64-Wiki|url=https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Argus_Specialist_Publications_Ltd|access-date=2022-02-22|website=www.c64-wiki.com}}</ref> and ''ZX Computing'' (1982–1987).<ref>{{Cite web|title=World of Spectrum - ZX Computing|url=https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/magazines/zx-computing|access-date=2022-02-22|website=worldofspectrum.org}}</ref>

The business was based in [[Hemel Hempstead]], and following the management buyout from BET in 1988 was run by chairman Kimble Earl and [[Chief executive officer|MD]] Terry Pattison. The operation included a book publisher and an exhibition business which staged hobby-related shows of national importance at venues including [[Alexandra Palace]], [[Sandown Park Racecourse|Sandown Park]] and [[Olympia London|Olympia]]. Argus Press Group sold the business to Nexus in 1994.

== Argus Consumer Publications ==

Argus Press Group ran a significant portfolio of consumer magazines from premises adjacent to London's [[Leicester Square]]. These included Mother & Baby, Mother, Slimming and True Story. The business was run by chairman Kimble Earl and MD Gill Butler from the Argus Press management buyout in 1988 until being sold to [[Ascential|EMAP]] in 1991. The division also owned a chain of [[Slimming club|slimming clubs]] and a retail magazine distribution business SMD.

== Argus Business Publications ==

This business was a major player in [[business-to-business]] publications in both the UK and the USA, with publishing centres in [[Redhill, Surrey]], and in [[Atlanta]], [[Denver]], [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]] and others. Titles served a wide range of commercial sectors including mining, duty-free trading, electronics, and agriculture. The chief executive of the division was George Fowkes, who looked after the UK business publications with Scott Smith reporting to him for the US division. All titles were sold during 1994-1995.

==Argus Press Software==
The [[software]] division, Argus Press Software, was active in the 1980s, producing games for several home computer systems of the time. It acquired [[Quicksilva]] and Starcade in 1984,<ref name=pcw7june84>{{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Computing Weekly|date=7 June 1984|title=Argus buys out Quicksilva|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2809&page=1|page=1|access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref><ref name=hcw23oct84>{{cite magazine|magazine=Home Computing Weekly|date=23 October 1984|title=News|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2651&page=6|page=6|access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref> [[Bug-Byte]] in 1985,<ref>''CRASH'', July 1985, "This Tormented Business"</ref> and also published titles by the [[wargame]] company [[MC Lothlorien]].<ref>''Sinclair User'', May 1985, "News"</ref> In 1987, Argus Press Software was purchased by its managing director, Stephen Hall, and renamed [[Grandslam Entertainment]].<ref name='su_jan88'>{{cite magazine |title=Whodunwat|magazine=Sinclair User|issue=70|publisher=EMAP|date=16 December 1987|page=8|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=70&page=8|access-date=25 September 2022}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{PM20|FID=co/052240|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=}}

[[Category:Magazine publishing companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Newspaper companies of the United Kingdom]]