RBI continues to offload titles with sale of Utility Week

Reed Business Information has sold its Utility Week title to Croydon-based media company Faversham House for an undisclosed sum.

The sale, which was reported by the PPA, comes as the latest stage of RBI’s drive to reduce costs and the number of business titles it publishes.

In June, RBI outlined plans to drop the weekly print edition of Personnel Today and take the title online only.

Parent company Reed Elsevier revealed in February that profits at RBI, which includes UK magazine brands such as Farmers Weekly, New Scientist and Flight International, slumped by more than a third last year to £89m.

The parent company has steadily been disposing of RBI titles across the globe following the appointment of Erik Engstrom as chief executive last year.

In April, Reed Elsevier offloaded dozens of magazines from RBI’s US operation. Then in January, RBI sold its UK Cosmetics News Weekly title to rival Communications International Group for an undisclosed sum.

These moves followed changes last year at RBI UK. In July, it sold its travel portfolio – including Travel Weekly magazine – to the entrepreneur behind Holiday Autos, Clive Jacobs. And in November it closed the 130 year-old weekly magazine for the UK construction industry, Contract Journal.