About Us

The Sheengate Story

“We’re journalistically, as well as commercially, motivated. We want to provide something interesting and relevant to the local community and we’ve been lucky with the quality of our writers – some of our content has to be aspirational, but I think we’ve always managed to ensure there is a deeper element too.

CON CROWLEY, PUBLISHER

Sheengate Publishing was founded in 1998 by Alex Whitney and Con Crowley with the launch of The Richmond Magazine. We are now Surrey, SW London and Berkshire’s largest independent publisher of luxury local lifestyle and property magazines, with ten titles covering six of the UK’s 10 richest boroughs. In 2018 the company turned twenty, and as part of the celebrations one of our longest serving editors interviewed Con and Alex about the origins of the company. You can read the full interview here: The Page Boys.

Company Timeline

1998 – The Richmond Magazine launches
2000 – The Elmbridge and Kingston Magazines launch
2001 – The Guildford Magazine launches
2005 – The Surrey Downs Magazine launches
2008 – The Barnes Magazine launches
2009 – The Woking and Farnham Magazines launch
2013 – The Windsor, Maidenhead & Ascot Magazine launches
2015 – The Wandsworth & Clapham Magazine launches

Meet The Team

Alex Whitney

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Brought up in Hampstead, Alex is the son of TV, film and radio entrepreneur John Whitney CBE. Alex started his career in estate agency before taking up a highly specialised role selling investment strategies to private clients. In the late 80s Alex began his publishing career at the vanguard of local magazines in SW London working in sales before going on to launch titles of his own. He is one of the founding partners of Sheengate Publishing, responsible for the commercial management of its publications.

Con Crowley

PUBLISHER

A Kew-bred journalist by profession, Con has extensive experience in local media. He helped launch The Guardian Free Newspaper Group in the 1970s, editing The Kingston Guardian at the age of 25, going on to launch and edit various magazines for different publishing groups and local newspapers before starting out on his own. He is one of the founding partners of Sheengate Publishing and oversees all of the editorial functions for its publications.

Stewart Turner

GROUP SALES MANAGER

Stewart came to Sheengate Publishing in 2011 after a lengthy stint in the events industry. Having successfully overseen the logistics of distribution for the magazines and launched new title The Windsor, Maidenhead & Ascot Magazine, he went on to supervise the rebranding of the company and launch of its websites before being appointed Group Sales Manager, overseeing the Sheengate sales team across its entire print and digital portfolio.

Françoise Klein

GROUP PRODUCTION
MANAGER

Françoise has lived in Richmond for 30 years and is married to renowned local artist Simon Klein. Joining the team in 2001 after stints at a variety of national newspapers, magazines and the high street printing franchise Kall Kwick, Françoise’s design experience and quintessentially creative French flair have made a huge impact on the quality of the magazines and she is now the head of production for the entire Sheengate print portfolio.

Samantha Laurie

GROUP MANAGING
EDITOR

Starting her career at The Financial Times, Sam worked on a number of business publications in the City before moving to Australia to edit a lifestyle magazine where she discovered that writing about celebrities was much more fun than FinTech. She began life at Sheengate with a regular parenting column and today as Managing Editor, oversees editorial content across the magazines and website, as well as editing The Wandsworth & Clapham Magazine.

Beth Marlow

GROUP ACCOUNTS & HR
MANAGER

After graduating from the University of Bath, Beth began her career in the city working for a number of high-end financial institutions. Her extensive background in the fiscal management of blue chip companies combined with experience overseeing strategic organisational development for SMBs have allowed her to handle the accounting and HR demands at Sheengate with great success, supporting the growth of both the business and its employees.

Steven Ford

SURREY AREA SALES
MANAGER

Steven started his career as an estate agent in Guildford, showing an aptitude that was quickly rewarded with a position in management. He subsequently branched out in to publishing in London before being headhunted for the role of Sales Manager of The Guildford, Farnham and Woking Magazines. In addition to maintaining relationships with key Guildford clients, Steven also manages The Surrey Downs Magazine and the company’s Classifieds team.

Sam Sherwood

SW LONDON & BERKSHIRE AREA
SALES MANAGER

Sam has been with Sheengate since 2016, starting out in the Classifieds department before two promotions led to a role as Sales Manager for two of Sheengate’s titles: The Windsor, Maidenhead & Ascot Magazine and The Wandsworth & Clapham Magazine. Having worked previously in sales as both an estate agent and high-end electronics wholesaler, his meticulous approach to detail and friendly manner have proven invaluable assets to the team.

Lauren Gwynn

PROPERTY ACCOUNT
MANAGER

Having come to the company in 2016 with no previous sales experience and fresh from studying media, English and art at Godalming College, Sheengate Publishing marks the first chapter in Lauren’s career. After a period learning her salescraft in the company’s Classifieds team, Lauren’s work and commitment were rewarded with a promotion into the property department and she now looks after the property sections of the entire portfolio.

Chelsea Cummings

RICHMOND & BARNES ACCOUNT
MANAGER

Born and raised in Sunbury, Chelsea began her career in direct sales while studying at college, selling fire safety systems to local SMBs. After discovering a knack for selling, she went on to work in various sales and management roles at Reed Recruitment and BUPA Healthcare before joining the Sheengate Publishing team in September of 2015 to manage the company’s longest running titles – The Richmond and Barnes Magazines.

Fiona Adams

RICHMOND & BARNES
EDITOR

Fiona began her career in Fleet Street at Robert Maxwell’s European Newspaper. After seven years at the paper she moved to the BBC, freelancing for a number of flagship consumer titles including BBC Music, Radio Times and Gardens Illustrated. She joined Sheengate Publishing in 2010 and has previously edited our Guildford, Elmbridge and Windsor titles before taking over The Richmond and Barnes Magazines, our flagship titles.

Kirsty Bane

ELMBRIDGE & KINGSTON ACCOUNT
MANAGER

Kirsty started at Sheengate Publishing in 2017, initially working as a Sales Executive on The Richmond and Barnes Magazines. Due to her excellent work ethic and sales talent, she was quickly promoted to the role of Account Manager for The Elmbridge & Kingston Magazines, a position in which she has thrived. Prior to working at Sheengate, Kirsty spent eight years learning her craft in the oil industry as a senior B2B Account Manager.

Rosanna Greenstreet

ELMBRIDGE & KINGSTON
EDITOR

An established national newspaper and magazine journalist with over 25 years’ experience, Rosanna joined Sheengate Publishing in 2013. As well as editing The Kingston and Elmbridge Magazines, she oversees the Fashion and Home Style Columns for the entire stable. In 1997 she wrote My Body My Enemy, the life story of recovered anorexic Claire Beeken, and continues to write regularly for the The Weekend Guardian Magazine, BBC Good Food and Femail.

Jack Harman

SURREY DOWNS ACCOUNT
MANAGER

A born salesman, Jack struck out in to the world of retail at the age of 16, before moving on to work as an estate agent in Tooting. After being headhunted by the insurance industry, he spent two years selling car, van and home packages before further honing his salescraft in the world of B2B insurance. A no nonsense personality and industrious work rate have seen him make an instant impact as Account Manager of The Surrey Downs Magazine.

Jane McGowan

GUILDFORD AND SURREY DOWNS
EDITOR

Jane has been a journalist for over 25 years, working on both local and national newspapers and magazines. Jane joined Sheengate as editor of both The Surrey Downs Magazine and The Guildford, Farnham and Woking Magazines in October 2016, having been a regular contributor and editor of the company’s Showtime Columns since 2015. She continues to contribute to a variety of publications, specialising in theatre, parenting and property.

Niki Hornsby

WINDSOR, MAIDENHEAD & ASCOT
ACCOUNT MANAGER

Niki is an experienced salesperson specialising in local lifestyle media. She started her career at Newsquest, and was a Regional Sales Manager at Trinity Mirror for six years before taking up a role as Group Advertising Manager for Baylis Media and its Maidenhead Advertiser title. Her extensive knowledge of Berkshire has seen her make an instant impact as Account Manager of The Windsor, Maidenhead & Ascot Magazine.

Alice Cairns

WINDSOR, MAIDENHEAD & ASCOT
EDITOR

Educated at Oxford University, at 26 Alice is the youngest editor in the company’s 20 year history. Windsor born and bred, she was offered the editorship of The Windsor, Maidenhead & Ascot Magazine after showcasing her excellent writing talent as a theatre reviewer on Essential Surrey & SW London.

Richard Nye

EDITORIAL
CONSULTANT

The longest-serving member of the editorial team, Richard Nye has worked as a feature writer, editor and sub-editor on every Sheengate title and was Editor of The Richmond and Barnes Magazines until 2014. He currently works as an editorial consultant across all of our titles. Educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon and Christ Church, Oxford, he is also a freelance writer, editor and sub editor and is the author of the travel book Railblazing.