London Weekly to launch next week

The London Weekly, a free newspaper set up to fill the gap left by the London Lite and thelondonpaper, is due to released on February 5.

Global Publishing Group, the company behind the title, plans to distribute 250,000 copies of the freesheet every Friday and Saturday outside rail and tube stations in the capital, according to reports.

Executives at the title also hinted at future launches in other UK cities once the London paper is up and running.  The company is thought to be considering titles for Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

The newspaper’s website went live on December 20, and features short news reports on major events, such as the Haiti earthquake, as well as showbiz gossip, sport and music reviews.

Global Publishing Group, who will publish the title with a partnership of five private equity investors, has signed up Tesco and Virgin Atlantic to advertise on the front page of the website.

Paul Morris, the London Weekly‘s marketing manager, said: “We are all very excited and looking forward to the launch of the London Weekly on 5 February 2010. We successfully launched the website … as planned on 20 December and are looking forward to the paper on 5 February all on schedule.

“We launched during the festive period, in fact five days before Christmas and as a new venture, we have and continue to receive an enormous amount of support for an initiative that would provide new opportunities, employment and fill a void left in the London market.”

The publishing company describes the paper as “a brand new free unique weekly newspaper which bridges the gap between national newspapers, Sunday tabloids and dailies”.