City AM
UK centre-right, pro-business
Background
City AM launched on 30 September 2005 as London's first free daily business newspaper, founded by Lawson Muncaster and Jens Torpe and distributed to commuters in the City of London financial district. It quickly grew its circulation into the tens of thousands and became a fixture of the London commuter scene, covering financial markets, UK business, and economics. The paper took an editorially pro-business, broadly centre-right stance, with a 2015 editor appointment drawing scrutiny over ties to Conservative-affiliated groups. Ownership before 2023 was split between a Dutch investor consortium and its co-founders. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated its advertising base by sharply reducing commuter footfall, and by 2023 the paper entered administration. THG plc, the Manchester-based e-commerce and technology group controlled by Matthew Moulding, acquired City AM out of administration in a pre-pack deal for approximately £1.5 million in July 2023. Under THG ownership the outlet stabilised, returned to print profitability by 2025, and maintained a claimed average print circulation of around 68,000 copies. Some media observers noted potential editorial-independence questions given THG's own commercial interests in e-commerce, though no substantiated cases of owner interference have been reported.
Sources
- City A.M. - Wikipedia
- THG acquired City A.M. for £1.5 million - Prolific North
- From administration to break-even: City AM after THG takeover - Press Gazette
- Matt Moulding's THG Agrees to Buy London Newspaper City AM - Bloomberg
- City A.M. wants to be the voice of UK business. Is it working? - Cognito
- City AM trumpets resurgence of print profitability - Press Gazette
- CityAM - Bias and Reliability - Biasly
Profile compiled 2026-07-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.