From Autumn this year, the weekly magazine Time Out in London will follow in the footsteps of the Evening Standard and become a free publication – no firm date yet.

The arrival of such a well-known brand – Time Out has been around in London since 1968 – could be a game-changer for the marketing of arts and entertainment in London. Time Out is active in digital media. The last data published for its London website declared over 2 million unique vistors a month. Time Out is published in over 30 countries. The UK and the US businesses are majority-owned by private equity firm Oakley Capital.

The Editor in Chief of Time Out says: “We will leap from 50,000 circulation, to over 300,000, taking Time Out’s unique editorial expertise to a huge new audience. We hope to inspire tens of thousands of Londoners to make the most of their Time Out.” Time Out London’s last official ABC sales figure, for the second half of 2011, stood at 55,000 – of which 80 per cent were actively purchased. This represented a 40% fall since 2006.