prabhuFreesheet City AM, which is picked up and relied upon by business readers on the move around the capital, has ceased printing its physical edition from today (March 20th).
The leading business paper, which produces 85,500 daily copies for distribution at stations and key locations around the city, will also be cutting staff salaries from April by half.
The title’s news and features will continue on its website, but with the vast majority of the workforce who are capable now working from home under guidance from the UK government – as well as recommendations about non-essential contact – stations are emptying and City AM’s readers are staying away from distribution points.
This, combined with economic worries, has led to advertisers stopping campaigns, so printing has been suspended “until our readers start returning to the capital.”
In a statement, Jens Torpe, City AM Chief Executive, said: “We have served London’s business community with a daily paper for fifteen years, pausing our print-run only on public holidays.
“Now, with so few people commuting into the capital and with advertisers understandably withholding their campaigns, it seems we must hit pause again. The coming weeks will not be easy, for anyone, but the board of City AM is clear that the print product will return, and that in the meantime our digital operation will continue uninterrupted, responding to unprecedented online traffic.
“We will continue to produce our newspaper and host it on cityam.com and we will resume the print operation as soon as it becomes viable to do so.”
No redundancies are being made, but cost-cutting measures are being introduced, including a 50% salary cut for staff – including management – in April.
