Free Newspapers in UK
Metro is a free newspaper published in tabloid format in the United Kingdom by DMG Media (part of Daily Mail and General Trust). It is distributed from Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) on many public-transport services and stations in cities and towns across the United Kingdom. Distributors have also been employed to hand out copies to pedestrians.
History[edit]
The paper was launched in London on 16 March 1999,[2] and can now be found in many towns and cities across the UK. It is part of the same media group as the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, although, in some areas, Metro operates as a franchise with a local newspaper publisher, rather than as a wholly owned concern. In 2017, it became the most-read newspaper in the UK, according to monthly NRS figures.[3]
The Metro concept comes from Sweden. Metro International, a different company, launched in the UK in 1999, and, in Newcastle upon Tyne, this company's paper was distributed on the Tyne and Wear Metro system side by side with the Metro of Associated Newspapers (now DMG Media). After battling alongside the Associated Newspapers' version with the same name, Metro International's Metro changed its name to Morning News. However, Morning News was short-lived, being discontinued shortly afterwards (see Metro International). Metro International have had plans to launch a rivalling free evening newspaper in London.[4]
Similarly, Rupert Murdoch is said to have regretted missing the opportunity of launching his own London paper. However, News International, a UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation, launched a London-based newspaper in 2006 called The London Paper, using funding from Liam McDonald.[5] This was closed on 18 September 2009
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Content[edit]
The newspaper is divided into three main sections - news, features and sport. The features section contains a mix of articles on travel, homes, style, and health, science, as well as extensive arts coverage and entertainment listings. Metro Bank PLC is a retail bank operating in the United Kingdom, founded by Vernon Hill in 2010.[1] At its launch it was the first new high street bank to launch in the United Kingdom in over 150 years.[3] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The puzzles page currently features a crossword and Sudoku. In 2014, production of Metro newspaper and the metro.co.uk website was separated[6], so that they are now written independently by different Metro Bank PLC was granted its licence by the Financial Services Authority on 5 March 2010, the first high-street bank to be granted such a licence for over 150 years.[3] It planned to open between 200 and 250 Stores in Greater London within 10 years of starting up.[4] Its first Store opened on 29 July 2010 in Holborn.[5]
In 2012, Metro Bank raised an additional $200 million in funding from investors including Fidelity, Steven A. Cohen of hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, and New York real estate investors the LeFraks and David and Simon Reubens.[6] In the same year, Forbes Magazine reported that Metro's flagship Holborn branch had "...garnered $200 million in deposits, four times the total at the average mature American branch."[6]
On 2 May 2013 the Daily Telegraph reported that, following a loss of £8.8 million in the first quarter of 2013, Metro Bank's pre-tax losses had exceeded £100 million in less than three years since its launch, but the bank stated that these were planned for,[7] and were "a result of its growth initiatives".[8] In an interview with the Financial Times, Hill said the bank was "...in line with the business plan to rapidly grow this company,” he added. "Our primary goal is to expand the business . . . and profit certainly will come."[9]
Metro Bank increased its account holders by 50% in the first half of 2013 for a total of 200,000 customer accounts, including 15,000 business accounts. It was aiming to have 200 UK stores open by 2020.[10] Metro Bank acquired SME Finance in August 2013, and rebranded the business as Metro Bank SME Finance in May 2014 editorial teams, although they remain part of the same parent company. Metro newspaper content is published online on a separate website.[7]Distribution[edit]
In its first five years, it achieved a readership of over 1 million weekdaily readers, making it the UK's fourth largest weekday Metro Bank provides banking services to personal and business customers. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.[12]
In addition to traditional banking services, the bank offers non-traditional services, including:
- quoting a time of 15 minutes to open an account at a Metro branch[13]
- a "pet-friendly" policy at stores, such as free dog biscuits and water for customers' dogs, of which Hill said, "Customers think that if we take care of their dogs then we will also take care of them."[14] The company offers a refund to customers who rehome a pet from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and is the official banking partner of The Kennel Club. Metro Bank also won the Kennel Club’s Open for Dogs Competition 2011.[15]
- coin counting machines for customers to sort and deposit change[16]
In October 2016 circulation was increased to nearly 1.5 million[10] and in June 2017 it became the biggest weekday newspaper by daily circulation, overtaking The Sun for the first time with a circulation of 1,479,775.[11]
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