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Online business battle hots up as ads promise ‘new era’

The battle for business readers in the West Midlands is set to hot up again with the Birmingham Post planning a major new initiative.

The Trinity Mirror-owned weekly title has launched a mysterious advertising campaign promising the dawn of a “new era” and the tantalising catchphrase:  “Make it your business, daily.”

Details remain shrouded in secrecy but editor Stacey Barnfield has described  it as “one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on.”

It is understood that the project in question is a digital initiative and that the paper, which went weekly in November 2009, has no plans to resume daily print publication.

Competition for readers among the West Midlands business community has been intense ever since the Post announced the frequency change.

Shortly afterwards, the Post’s former editor, Marc Reeves, helped launch TheBusinessDesk.com as a subscription-based online business news service, although Marc has since left the project.

Stacey told HTFP : “This is one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on in my time at the Birmingham Post and Mail and I’m confident it will capture the imagination of Birmingham’s business community,” he said.

“We look forward to revealing more details over the next few weeks.”

The ad was also posted onto Twitter, sparking speculation from followers over what it could mean.

The Birmingham Post was a daily paper for around 150 years, before being relaunched as a weekly. Bosses said at the time they expected sales to increase by 10pc – but the latest ABC figures released last month show it now has full cover price sales of 5,393, some 15pc lower than its final daily comparable figures.

The BusinessDesk.com declined to comment on the advert.

The advert was posted on Twitter, sparking speculation over what it could mean