Metro To Expand In The UK

Morning freesheet Metro is to launch new editions nationally and internationally next year.

According to reports, the Associated Newspapers title will also forge significant new digital developments.

In the UK, the newspaper plans to increase its number of local editions to 20, with up to four new editions hitting cities within the next year.

The paper began with a UK distribution of 85,000 at its launch in 1999, and now boasts a total of 1.3 million copies.

In London, the paper paved the way for the two afternoon freesheets – Associated’s London Lite and News International’s thelondonpaper (see thelondonpaper Launches And The Free Newspaper War Begins).

Both papers have impacted significantly on Associated’s Evening Standard, and the London Lites launch led to the closure of its previous incarnation, the Standard Lite (see Standard Lite Confirms Closure With New Freesheet Launch).

In the meantime, Sport and ShortList (see New Free Men’s Mag Arrives Today) have also broken in to the free paper market.

However, Metro has remained strong in the capital through it all, with its distribution rising 109,900 copies month on month, September to October 2007 (see thelondonpaper Remains In Front Of London Lite).

The free paper now boasts a distribution of 746,758 in the capital.

Separately, Metro plans to expand its Dubai newspaper 7Days into four more cities in the Middle East within the next year.

However, the paper said it did need to iron out a few problems with the freesheet in Dubai, which launched 12 months ago, and get it running smoothly before beginning its expansion plans.

Metro in the UK is already distributed in Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Wolverhampton and York.

Associated Newspapers: www.associatednewspapers.com News International: www.newscorp.co.uk