The former boss of Crain’s Manchester Business is set to bounce back with the launch of a new business newspaper.

Arthur Porter is preparing to launch The Business Journal, a weekly business news title for Chester, the Wirral and North Wales, with a website set to go live on 20 July a print version to be published in August.

The former publisher of Crain’s Manchester Business left the business in January 2010 before it ceased publication in June that year, with the company saying it had struggled to gain enough advertising.

Arthur’s new venture will compete for readers and advertisers in an already crowded market which includes the Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, thebusinessdesk.com and North West Business Insider.

Business news for the area is also provided by The Times, which launched a bi-monthly Northern edition of its Business Insight magazine in February.

But Arthur believes the title will fill a gap in the market, because businesses in the area feel overshadowed by the cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

He said: “The Business Journal is a brand new medium that is coming for the first time to Chester, the Wirral and North Wales.

“It follows a very successful formula in the United States – just about every city in the US has its own business weekly newspaper and what that business journal does is feed information through quality breaking news that the reader has not read before that can help him grow his business.

“In addition it gives them resources, research and information through lists, through record information, through advice columns that is going to give the reader information in a package that they can’t get anywhere else.”

The Business Journal will have an initial print run of 7,000 copies going to bosses who employ five or more staff in the area and will cost £58 for an annual subscription or £2 a week from newsstands.