Desmond reaffirms plans to launch free London paper

by Gordon MacMillan,, Brand Republic 11-May-04, 14:40

LONDON - After months of silence, Northern & Shell chairman Richard Desmond this afternoon reaffirmed his plans to launch a free evening newspaper for London to compete head on with the Evening Standard.

Desmond was widely understood to have abandoned his plans for an evening newspaper to compete with Associated Newspapers' Standard after his original launch date of spring 2003 came and went.

Desmond entered into a war of words with Associated, which was reported to be launching a spoiler tabloid newspaper to rival the successful Daily Star as part of a tit-for-tat battle.

However, talking to senior Northern & Shell staff today Richard Desmond said that everything was in place for the newspaper's launch and that all was required was a ruling, one way or another, from the Office of Fair Trading.

In a statement issued by Northern & Shell, Desmond said: "We are waiting for a ruling from the OFT prior to launching the paper. All we're asking for is a level playing field in this competitive environment. I look forward to a decision from the OFT regarding distribution issues. I'm looking forward to getting this paper into the hands of Londoners."

Northern & Shell confirmed that it had a team in place to launch a new title, having last year hired a number of seniors staff to work on the paper.

These hirings included: senior advertising executive Karen Newton from Associated; Mike Orlov, the former ad director of the Standard; and Christian Toksvig, who joined Express Newspapers as development manager and was the first outside hiring for the proposed free London evening newspaper.

If Desmond does launch he will need a new editor. Nick Ferrari, the former tabloid journalist and television executive, and host on London talk radio station LBC 97.3FM, was named editor of the proposed paper in February 2003, but he severed his links when he became breakfast host on LBC 97.3 FM in January 2004 and will have no involvement with the title.

There is still no confirmation what Desmond's new London paper might be called, after he lost his legal battle last year and was banned from using the name Evening Mail or London Evening Mail.

There was a suggestion at the time that the paper might be called London PM, but there is today no fresh confirmation of this.

Stan Myerson, joint managing director at Northern & Shell, said that research with advertisers and consumers proved that strong demand existed for the paper for the new paper.

"Our research also indicates that consumers and advertisers have a preference for distribution from dispensers in transport hubs rather than any other means of distribution. We are totally committed to deliver excellent value to readers and the advertising community. Mike Orlov, our head of advertising sales on the London paper is raring to go," Myerson said.

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