The now digital title has been flying the flag for entrepreneurs since a concept was discussed by its co-founders over drinks during Christmas – with a subsequent launch in 1997 as a print magazine. Retracing our steps to the first editorial written by co-founder Stuart Rock, the original message still rings true today.

“Real Business is, first and foremost, about growing companies,” he said. “As a readership, all of you run businesses that employ between ten to 500 people. The national press gives you scant attention. So we intend to put that right.”

Our most recent ABC audit figures suggest that we have done just that. As the champion of UK enterprise for more than 17 years, we are now the most-read SME website dedicated to high-growth businesses and entrepreneurs.

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Indeed, we are pleased to announce the results of our recent ABC Audit. We were found to have a monthly total of 124,623 unique visitors in March 2015, which is eight per cent more when compared to the same month in 2014.

Steven Randell, publishing director of Real Business, said: “We undertook our first website traffic audit last year specifically to prove to the market overall, and our advertisers in particular, the extent to which we lead the sector when it comes to reach. These latest numbers continue to demonstrate this. Real Business is an incredibly strong print-to-digital success story and it’s obviously great to see traffic continue to rise year on year.”

Real Business isn’t just about clear, hard information. Although today it continues as a digital publication, we still intend to campaign on your behalf on the pressing issues of the day. This includes championing SMEs through our leading portfolio of events. After all, Real Business is the only SME title to host a portfolio of events together with the CBI, and its industry-leading awards and summits are famous for bringing together the UK’s most influential entrepreneurs and business leaders. 

It’s been an incredible journey: from a monthly print title to the ABC audited top website for SMEs – the outcome of which has been the confirmation that the website has remained a leading resource for entrepreneurs and is providing advertisers with an exceptional reach among Britain’s SMEs.

Hunter Ruthven, editor of Real Business, commented: “Real Business prides itself on our relationship with SMEs and the advertisers that wish to engage with them, and being the top website for our key audience is testament to this. Over the coming year we will continue to grow unique visitor numbers, bring business leaders all the salient information in an era of new government and unveil a number of exciting additions to the website.”

Real Business is for people like you, produced by people like you, Rock concluded in his original editorial. Through this concept, we are confident that we’re well set to remain the most-read website for SMEs in the UK.

By Shané Schutte