Evening Standard celebrates sales rise

The Evening Standard’s circulation has risen by more than nine per cent in the three months since newspaper veteran Bert Hardy took the helm.

Hardy was installed following Mike Anderson’s departure to take up the same role at News Group Newspapers in September.

At the time, the Standard’s circulation stood at a year low of 316,453, but the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figure stands at 346,489.

But Hardy stresses the job is far from complete. He says: “We have kept the number of pages down to 64 and started stapling them, making the Standard easier to read. In addition, we’ve moved business coverage towards the front of the paper and increased the number of news stories. There’s now a better flow, and people are appreciating a tighter and cleaner product.”

Hardy also changed the way the Standard was trading with agencies and clients and quickly dropped Anderson’s controversial partnership scheme, which proved a popular move. He says display advertising is now running over budget while classified is strengthening.

He adds: “I won’t be happy until we hit a steady circulation of about 410,000.”