Sunday Business Averts Closure

The future of the Sunday Business has been secured after the the paper’s owners signed a three-year refinancing deal with the Press Association (PA).

The deal will see the newspaper, which has failed to find either a buyer or the funds to back a management buyout, move into the PA’s offices and relaunch as a streamlined business-only product.

The paper’s owners, the Barclay Brothers, have agreed to continue financing the title but a number of job cuts will come as the title focuses solely on its “core competence.” The recently launched Business & Pleasure magazine will close and The Sunday Investor section will be merge into the main 36-page newspaper.

A small editorial team will be retained to run the paper but access to the PA’s editorial facilities will require a “significant proportion” of the current Sunday Business staff to be made redundant.

Andrew Neil, publisher of Sunday Business, said: “In the current grim economic climate we had to find ways to cut our costs and bring them closer in line with revenues to secure continued financing. After all the uncertainty and despite the unfortunate need for redundancies it is a relief to know that the future of the paper is secure.”

The Sunday Business launched three years ago and while circualtion has remained relatively stable (see above) revenues have declined as a result of the current advertising downturn. The Barclay Brothers recently announced that the paper would close with the loss of all of its staff unless additional funding was secured.

Sunday Business: 020 7961 0000

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