The Leicester Mercury is showing a significant increase in readership eight months after launching a major redesign.

In March, as reported on HoldTheFrontPage, the Leicester Mercury introduced a new look created by international design guru Lucie Lacava. There were improvements to content and the whole project was supported by an extensive promotion campaign.

The latest ABC circulation figures only cover the first six months of this year – meaning that three months before the re-launch are included. These show the Mercury as the 7th best-selling UK regional evening paper with a sale of 111,652 (down 2.1%), but the newspaper’s annual research survey has found that 13,000 more people are reading the newspaper daily than was the case 12 months before.

The findings were part of the detailed annual market research exercise carried out for the title each year by independent company RSGB, following Jicreg guidelines. It also showed that six-day readership had increased after several years of decline and that penetration had increased in Leicester and in the surrounding county.

Mercury editor Nick Carter said: “The results are very encouraging. They also show the public thinks of the newspaper as more stimulating, more pioneering, with a greater sense of fun and as being more modern and interesting. That is just what we wanted.

“This growth is a tremendous achievement by everyone across the company and reflects the renewed strength of the re-designed Mercury in the marketplace. We have been especially successful in attracting the sorts of readers not normally associated with local newspapers.

“We now reach far more young readers than a year ago. People are more aware of what’s in the paper, and our new and existing sections are receiving more interest than before.”

Carter added that retention rates on orders canvassed after the launch were well ahead of what had been achieved with the old Mercury.

He said: “There is still a long way to go – particularly to turn the increase in readership into hard newspaper sales. But we believe we have made a huge step forward and have a much firmer foundation on which to build future success.”

To re-read the articles written around the time of the March re-launch, visit our Analysis section here

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