Time Inc UK has shut down women’s lifestyle website InStyle UK less than 18 months after it stopped publishing the title in print.
InStyle UK published its last print edition in December 2016 after 15 years, relaunching with a digital first strategy to “directly address the changing needs of its fashion-obsessed audience”, said a spokesperson at the time.
The website had a major revamp in March last year and, six months later, the company said InStyle UK had seen an “impressive” growth of 48 per cent since the relaunch to reach 950,000 unique users.
But, InStyle UK owner Time Inc UK was bought by London-based private equity firm Epiris Fund II in February and Press Gazette understands the decision to close InStyle UK comes as a result of this change of ownership.
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As of Monday, readers who try to access InStyle UK, including via hyperlinks, are redirected to the US website (pictured).
A Time Inc UK spokesperson said: “As a result of Time Inc UK’s new ownership, the company has decided it will not be continuing with the InStyle UK licence.
“From 21 May, the InStyle UK website will automatically redirect to instyle.com so UK users will continue to enjoy the InStyle experience.”
US media company Meredith, which bought Time Inc in January before selling the company’s UK arm, says InStyle US has 5m monthly unique visitors and 22m monthly page views.
The last tweet from the InStyle UK Twitter account, which has 239,000 followers, was sent on 11 May.
Time Inc UK has yet to confirm whether jobs are at risk as a result of the closure. A consultation period with In Style staff is still ongoing, Press Gazette understands.
Look’s final edition will be published on 29 May and its website will close in the following weeks.
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