View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
October 16, 2007

Business7 is ‘not for FT audience’

By Press Gazette

The editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror‘s new Edinburgh-based business newspaper and website, Business7, has said the title’s weekly free business model will help it avoid the fate of the short-lived Business AM, which closed in 2002.

Business AM was a paid-for daily publication launched by Swedish owner Bonnier in Scotland. It failed after two years due to financial problems.

Business7 editor-in-chief Alasdair Northrop, who is also editor-in-chief of Scottish Business Insider, told Press Gazette: ‘We are being compared to Business AM, but they failed because they overspent.

‘A lot of people miss Business AM and there was a gap in the market which we are filling.

‘We think the weekly format will work a lot better. We are investing a fair bit of money in it, but not huge sums in the way Business AM was. We will want to grow the product and we think there is huge potential for it.”

The Financial Times currently sells only around 5,000 copies in Scotland.

Northrop said: ‘Business7 is not for an FT audience, it’s for people working in business who might be looking for leads or to get a feel for what is happening in business and other sectors. It’s much easier than having to go out and pay £1.30 for the FT.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

‘There are 265,000 companies in Scotland and they are not all covered by other media.”

Business7 has four dedicated members of staff, including part-time editor Jonathan Russell of Record PM. Northrop’s former deputy on the Scottish Business Insider, Erikka Askeland, is chief reporter.

The 24-page title will be distributed every Friday morning, with an initial print run of 20,000 available for pick-up from targeted businesses and key commuter points including mainline rail stations and airports.

London-based financial daily City AM is understood to be considering a Scotland launch.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network