Bella Re-Launch

Tomorrow we’ll have some downtime on the website as we move over from one host to another. This should only take a few hours. We’ve been with Starbit for many years, but they’re shutting down.

So we’ve taken this opportunity to do some work behind the scenes on the website and we’ll be re-launching with some technical and editorial upgrades. We are working with Bella contributor and digital media consultant Connor Beaton on this transition and on wider website changes which will deliver an improved experience for our readers. Hopefully, resolving the long-running Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks and the Cloudflare we have had to put in place for months. We’re also announcing some new writers and projects over the coming weeks.

New Hosts

With American tech billionaires devastating our climate and our democracy, our choice of new web provider merited some serious thought. Following in the footsteps of some of the UK’s biggest news publishers by relying on Amazon Web Services (AWS), while lining Jeff Bezos’ pockets in the process, was an obvious non-starter.

We could not have hoped to find a more fitting solution than that offered by Krystal, a fully independent, UK-based company with a long-standing commitment to climate action and sustainability, recognised by its B Corp accreditation. 

From Tuesday 16th June, Bella Caledonia’s website will be hosted on Krystal’s servers, powered since 2017 by 100% renewable energy. 

Though it remains a profit-making business, Krystal reinvests a portion of its profits in reforestation and carbon reduction projects, to date enabling the planting of more than five million trees by respected conservation charities – including nearly 20,000 trees planted in the Highlands by Trees for Life.

If you supported our recent crowdfunding campaign, you made all of this possible, so thanks again. Your ‘rewards’ should be winging their way to you this week.