News International to close thelondonpaper

News International has announced plans to close its free title thelondonpaper.

The publishing company, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has entered a 30-day consultation period on the proposed closure with around 60 members of staff.

James Murdoch, News Corp’s chairman and chief executive of Europe and Asia, said: “The strategy at News International over the past 18 months has been to streamline our operations and focus investment on our core titles.

“The team at thelondonpaper has made great strides in a short space of time with innovative design and a fresh approach but the performance of the business in a difficult free evening newspaper sector has fallen short of expectations. We have taken a tough decision that reflects our priorities as a business.”

News International started a review of its ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ early last year and has since focused on a set of strategic priorities, which has seen it sell off non-core assets such as News Magazines, PropertyFinder and CentreCore.

thelondonpaper recorded a pre-tax loss of £12.9 million in the year to 29 June 2008 on turnover of £14.1 million, according to News International.

In July’s ABC release, thelondonpaper‘s distribution remained relatively static on around 500,000 copies, which is 100,000 more copies than its rival afternoon freesheet the London Lite.

Observers will now be interested in the reaction of the London Lite’s publisher, Associated Newspapers.

News International plans to continue to publish the title during the 30-day consultation period.