The Lady, one of the country’s oldest magazines, has relaunched and set itself a target of weekly sales of more than 45,000 by the end of the year.
The 124-year-old title, which was originally launched as a “journal for gentlewomen” and famed for its classified ads for domestic staff, underwent a full-colour relaunch in March last year.
The last Audit Bureau of Circulations figure for The Lady shows that in the first six months of last year the £1.50 magazine was selling 28,721 copies on average each week.
The Lady then appointed Rachel Johnson, sister of London mayor and Telegraph columnist Boris Johnson, who joined as its new editor September.
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A second revamp in nine months hit newsstands on 22 December with a double edition boosting circulation to 31,238 – a 30 per cent sales increase on the week prior, the magazine claimed this week.
Johnson told Press Gazette: “I was thrilled with the hefty increase with the Christmas issue. A 30 per cent increase in a difficult market is something to shout about.”
Since taking up at The Lady, Johnson has introduce a range of new columnists and contributors including GMTV’s Penny Smith, author Lady Antonia Fraser, BBC broadcaster Justin Webb, beauty guru Kate Shapland and ex fashion editor of Vogue, Vanessa de Lisle.
Nicolas Boize, marketing manager, told Press Gazette: “There’s been a whole package of changes.
“On top of the new design we have a whole range of very topical, very popular contributors so the whole editorial of the magazine has been enhanced enormously.
“The new design has lifted our sales enormously and we are looking to increase the total sale in the short term to about 35,000 and by the end of the year upwards of middle to late forties.”
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