Metro

BBC Magazine has an interesting article on the Metro newspaper which is ten today.

The Metro newspaper, which accompanies millions of commuters across the UK as they make their way to work, is 10 years old on Monday. Part of its success is down to its unique readership.

Who are they?

When a certain newspaper man, Jonathan Harmsworth, boarded a tram in Stockholm in 1998, he noticed dozens of young, affluent Swedes engrossed in a newspaper called Metro.

What impressed him was the way a social group traditionally resistant to buying newspapers was so wedded to one that was freely distributed.

Ten years after first hitting the streets of London on 16 March 1999, Metro is now in 30 cities and towns across the UK and Ireland.

An estimated 3.3m people a day spend an average of 27 minutes on their way to work reading bite-sized chunks of news, culture, local leisure reviews and sport, with a healthy sprinkling of technology and quirky stories.

More retailers in administration

BBC reports on Mosaic going into administration.

Mosaic, which owns some of the most famous brands on the UK High Street, has gone into administration, with debts of about £400m.

But most of the group, including Oasis, Karen Millen, Warehouse and Coast have been immediately sold to Mosaic’s main creditor – Icelandic bank Kaupthing.

As the recession deepens it would appear that more and more retailers are going into administration.