New London Freesheet Set to Launch in February

The London Weekly, a new free newspaper will hit the streets on 5 February, executives at the title have revealed.

The new freesheet will hope to replace the two afternoon papers that were closed last year, the London Lite and the London Paper.

Global Publishing Group, the company behind the title, plan to distribute 250,000 copies of the London Weekly every Friday and Saturday.

The Guardian also reported that the group has laid out ambitious plans to expand to other UK cities.

A website, thelondonweekly.co.uk, went live on 20 December, and has been updated with short reports on a few stories such as Haiti.

A statement on the site says: "The newspaper will be published weekly by GPG (Global Publishing Group) – a partnership of five private equity investors."

A media pack circulating before Christmas claimed the backers had raised about £10.5m to launch the London Weekly, and the title's website contains some further details about its plans.

"GPG UK plans to expand with three titles by 2012. Current titles in planning include the Manchester Weekly, Liverpool Weekly and the Birmingham Weekly," it states.

The website describes the paper as "A brand new free unique weekly newspaper which bridges the gap between national newspapers, Sunday tabloids and dailies."

The failed London Lite and London Paper both focused heavily on popular culture, celebrity gossip and London listings.

Hackney Council's paper, Hackney Today recently came under fire from Trinity Mirror boss Sly Bailey, despite the fact that the company prints it.

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