Some magazines appear to have charmed lives. Or, to put it another way: while some publications never rank among the top-sellers in terms of circulation, they’re sufficiently robust concerns to survive (and, indeed, prosper from having had) more than one publisher.
Take, for example, three specialist “coffee table” publications: monthly titles The English Home and The English Garden, and bimonthly Discover Britain. Initially published by the Romsey Publishing Group, in 2005 they were bought (along with the company) by Archant, the UK’s largest publisher of regional and local lifestyle magazines. A decade on, Archant have sold the three magazines – for an as yet undisclosed sum – to London-based Chelsea Magazine Company.
Archant’s development director, Kevin Whitchurch, unsurprisingly described The English Home, The English Garden, and Discover Britain as “terrific brands” – certainly, the two “English” magazines each sold more than 25,000 copies an issue last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
Then again, when Archant bought them 10 years ago, The English Home was selling 86,092 copies an issue, while The English Garden enjoyed a circulation of 75,433. Losing two thirds of your readers isn’t good going.
“As part of our strategy, the company is focussing on markets where we are in a leadership position or where there is a clear path toward leadership,” explained Archant chief executive, Jeff Henry. “This has meant that we have looked closely at our portfolio and can now confirm that the titles have been sold to the Chelsea Magazine Company.”
That suggests to me that Archant – despite having clear expertise in working locally, and in some specialist interest areas – simply didn’t see how they could make The English Home, The English Garden, or Discover Britain genuine market leaders at a UK level – and were no longer inclined to try. So, instead, they cashed in on their earlier investment.
Will Chelsea Magazine Company be better placed to grow these three titles?
Quite possibly. Firstly, they’ve taken on the magazines wholesale – including around 20 members of former Archant staff who worked on them. Secondly, and much more significantly, Chelsea Magazine Company’s Managing Director Paul Dobson was the man who launched The English Garden and The English Home in the first place. Oh, and he’d earlier bought a magazine called Heritage and rebranded it… yes, you guessed it, as Discover Britain.
So, for Dobson at least, these three titles are coming home. “We know them inside out,” he said when the sale was announced. “These titles are all about quality and Chelsea is the perfect home for them.”
Certainly, Dobson’s company appears to have one commercial advantage: apparently, it already has a long-established and successful subscriptions marketing operation, which will be well-suited to taking on three publications which already boast extensive circulations in North America as well as Britain. After all, a strong subscriptions base is the necessary solid foundation any magazine needs if it has aspirations for the big time.
