A news title which began life as an email newsletter earlier this year has published its first print edition.

In under three months, The Lead Blackpool has gone from launch as an online-only, newsletter-led publication to a free newspaper with a distribution of 10,000 copies.

As previously covered on HTFP, The Lead launched email newsletters in Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent and Teesside this year with a focus on politics and culture.

Plans are in the offing for launches in six further areas of the North of England, with two print editions of each of the titles scheduled for 2024 – a total print run of 200,000.

The Northern expansion drive is being led by former Reach plc executives Ed Walker, who is lead editor (North) and Luke Beardsworth, senior editor (North.)

Since launching its Northern expansion in January this year, The Lead has seen its digital audience increase by 44pc, with its national edition now having more than 50,000 subscribers.

The aim of the printed edition is to drive subscriptions by building a direct connection with readers in each town by “bringing content into the living room.”

The newspaper contains two sections – the front half given over to local news, features and opinion – with the back half containing the best of The Lead’s national content including long-form features and opinion.

Said Ed: “We’ve had a great response to the launch of The Blackpool Lead and this paper, packing in the best of our weekly email newsletter, dives headlong into what’s being faced in the town.

“Through the writing of Antonia Charlesworth Stack , who anchors our Blackpool newsletter each week and features throughout this edition of the paper, it’s positioned as a paper you can revisit too with a range of writers and topics explored.”

Publisher of The Lead, Mike Harris, added: “We’re proud to be pioneering a new form of local newspaper with our launch in Blackpool. This is an experiment to see if we can rejuvenate local media with new forms of journalism – both print and digital – that link the best of local journalism with national issues that everyone in the UK faces.

“As a free paper, we need to build out our revenue model quickly, but I hope the business community in Blackpool welcomes a new way to reach local people through print media, which we know carries significant trust.”

Three further print editions of The Lead will follow in April in Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent and Teesside to supplement the email newsletters which are already being delivered to hundreds of subscribers in those towns and cities.