The Business Is Axed In Favour Of New Monthly

Long-running weekly financial magazine, The Business, has been axed and is to be replaced by a new monthly, Spectator Business.

Martin Vander Weyer, the Spectator‘s business editor, will edit the new title when it launches in the spring.

Barclay brothers’ owned The Business will cease publishing from this week and Press Holdings Media, the company that owns the title, is consulting with staff about a “small number” of possible redundancies – thought to be around five.

Today’s move comes just two days after The Business editor, Allister Heath, stepped down to become the editor of London business freesheet City AM, and brings the curtain down on the title’s turbulent 12-year history.

First launched as a Sunday newspaper in 1996 and bought by the Barclay brothers a year later, it struggled to establish itself in the competitive weekend market.

In 2006, it was turned into a weekly magazine by its publisher, Andrew Neil, with ambitions to become a British equivalent to US financial titles such as Forbes.

But sales failed to hit the 50,000-plus required to allow the title to break even.

Press Holdings is hoping that the new title will exploit the success of the Spectator, which is expected to post another circulation gain tomorrow when ABC figures for the second half of 2007 are published.

“At a time of record circulation for the Spectator, exciting levels of growth online, and our 180th anniversary year, this is an excellent moment to step up a gear and launch Spectator Business,” said Matthew d’Ancona, the editor of the Spectator.

“Martin Vander Weyer, who will continue to edit the business pages of the weekly magazine, is the dream editor of the new title – a Spectator man to his fingertips, and a witty, brilliant observer of the business world,” d’Ancona added.

“I believe this marks a milestone in the development of the Spectator in its long history and the start of a process of progressive expansion in the new multi-media, multi-platform world. The best is yet to come.”

Vander Weyer said: “The launch of Spectator Business gives us the opportunity to bring this distinctive Spectator flavour to wider and deeper coverage of global business, investment and economic issues.

“My ambition is to make the new monthly title not only a must-read for senior executives but a stimulating and entertaining overview of the business scene for the general reader.”

The Business never translated its critical acclaim into adequate sales despite Andrew Neil’s often innovative attempts to keep its distribution high – such as a deal to give it away with the Mail on Sunday and posting it free to selected London addresses.

When the title turned into a magazine in October 2006, Neil said he hoped to turn a profit by 2008.

However, the magazine needed to grow circulation to at least 50,000 paid-for copies to break even.

According to the most recent ABC statistics, for the three months ending in September 2007, the magazine had a top-line circulation of nearly 41,843.

But, of these, just 9,764 were newsstand sales and 7,269 were subscriptions. In all, an average of 22,854 copies were given away free each week.

The Business: www.thebusiness.co.uk