A former daily newspaper’s website is to be discontinued and replaced by a regional publisher’s new nationwide business news platform.

Reach plc has announced the Birmingham Post’s site will shut in order to host new digital brand Business Live from next month.

The print edition of the Post, which switched from daily to weekly publication in 2009, will not be affected by the change.

HTFP reported in January how Reach was set to launch Business Live, which will host stories written by business writers from its regional titles around the country.

The site will be edited by Alistair Houghton, who is currently executive business editor at the Liverpool Echo and was named Business and Finance Journalist of the Year for the second consecutive year at the Regional Press Awards earlier this month.

A piece about the launch of Business Live on the Post’s site states: “It will bring together business news from the Greater Birmingham area, West Midlands and across the UK and, as a result, the Birmingham Post website will be discontinued.

“We’ll offer the best coverage of local business markets and key business sectors nationally, from manufacturing to property and everything in between.

“By bringing together coverage from across Reach plc’s national network, Business Live will shine a spotlight on the entrepreneurs, the stars of the future and the small firms that are the backbone of our economy.

“We’ll inspire business through trusted local and national content in uncertain times. We’ll give our readers the news and information they need to do business locally and nationally. And we’ll explain what’s happening in the business world, telling the stories behind the headlines.”