THE PARENT company of the Southern Daily Echo has been chosen to design and publish a business guide for Hampshire.

Newsquest Hampshire was picked by Hampshire Chamber of Commerce to design and publish The Hampshire Directory.

Digital marketing agency CDD has also been commissioned by the Hampshire Chamber to design and build the new online business directory for Hampshire as part of the initiative.

With a readership of 68,000, The Hampshire Directory will be distributed throughout the county to selected drop-off-sites and business locations.

It will also be placed in the lobbies of office and Government buildings, banks and other strategic locations and be available to Hampshire Chamber of Commerce Members.

The guide will also be used by Hampshire County Council and the Chamber of Commerce at all of their events, including Premier Chamber Exhibitions including the Meet the Buyer Event.

Denise Barlow head of communications at Hampshire Chamber, said: “We are delighted to be working with our two partners.

“The tender process was very competitive and we are confident that because we have chosen Newsquest as our partner to design and build the printed business guide, we will be gaining the very best professional service.

“CDD as an established Hampshire business with great testimonials I am sure will produce our online directory to a very high standard.”

The online directory aims to offer an easy online search facility to help businesses showcase their products and services among their peers by profiling all relevant up-to-date corporate information.

Each business can pay to upgrade their listing to enhance their promotion within the site.

The data for all businesses will be available to purchase online with a view to helping them with marketing and promotions within the Hampshire business community.

Newsquest Hampshire also publishes Hampshire Business magazine, as well as numerous newspapers and journals in the county, including the Basingstoke Gazette series, the New Forest Post, the News Extra series, Hampshire Chronicle, Hampshire Society magazine and the Andover Advertiser series.