The editor of City AM, David Parsley, has confirmed that the paper is planning to launch regional editions this year.
And he revealed that the launch of a website for the free London business daily, which launched in September 2005, is now “imminent”.
Parsley (pictured) said: “We are going to look to expand into the regions this year but it’s a way off yet. When we know we are to be officially ABC’d at 100,000 I will be ready to talk in more depth about the future plans. We are keeping our powder dry until then really. We have already started expanding to stations just outside London, to the Southwest.
“We are about to launch the website properly, the launch date is imminent. We will then look at expansion. The site is going to be the all-singing and all-dancing community website for City AM readers. It will include breaking news, everything you would expect and more. Unlike other news websites it will be very much community-based, offering people a lot more than just news and the current edition.
“Edinburgh would be an obvious place for us to launch but also places such as Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow – all those places we are looking at. We’ve said before that it is a long-term plan. It’s not our high priority at the moment.
“We’ve not decided which one to do first but we will do it region by region. It’s still a way off.
“They will certainly include regional content, it won’t just be a complete replica of what is in London. They will include some regional content and there will be some staff in each city we go into to manage that regional content.”
City AM currently has an ABC distribution of 97,032 outside tube stations in the City, Docklands and Mayfair and can be picked up in airports, first-class train carriages and pick-up bins in the major City firms.
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