The Scarborough Review, a new free monthly print title for the seaside town, will launch on Wednesday August 14 and the paper has agreed its main distribution arrangements with local retailers and leisure and community centres.
The new title is being headed up by Pete Spence who spent over 10 years working for his key rival the Johnston Press-owned Scarborough Evening News when it was still a daily. Spence has secured backing from the printer, Yorkshire Web, one of whose directors, Ian Smith owns three independent newspaper titles under the Review brand covering Holme Valley, Marple and the High Peaks.
The new Scarborough title will be independently-owned but Spence said they will be sharing some resources and sales initiatives.
The Review will have a launch print run of 10,000 copies with 32 pages of content and a 50/50 ad/edit ratio.
Spence said that they had agreed distribution terms with three supermarkets (two Tesco stores plus a Sainsbury’s and a Morrison’s) along with three Co-Ops, six Nisa Locals, three stores of the locally-owned Proudfoot supermarket chain, North & South Cliff Golf Clubs and several other independent premises including newsagents and community centres.
Spence added: “We have been blown away with the response to the Scarborough Review, not only from a commercial perspective, but also a public interest one and we’re confident that the distribution arrangements we’ve now confirmed will ensure maximum coverage for advertisers while providing good accessibility for our readers.”
The Scarborough News, which is published on a Thursday, celebrated its first anniversary in may since its conversion from a daily into a weekly title.
The paper is proving to be a successful example of a new weekly with sales averaging between 12,500 to 14,000. The title has just increased its cover price by 10p to £1.10.
