Price hike for new business paper

The new paper is the same size as the tabloids

The specialist business newspaper which launched in Scotland last year is to raise its cover price from 60 to 70 pence.

Business AM was the first new daily paper to be launched in Scotland for 100 years when it hit the news stands four months ago.

The paper's management said it has more reporters covering business than most newspapers have covering general news.

The 10 pence cover price rise will make it considerably more expensive than other Scottish dailies.

There's a well established tradition of people being willing to pay a premium for quality and highly specific information

Jim Chisholm

However, Jim Chisholm, the paper's managing director, said research suggested that price was not a factor in people deciding to buy it.

He said: "People are willing to pay for quality and in-depth reporting and analysis.

"Our readers appreciate that we are having to provide them with the same scale of reporting that other newspapers are doing with circulations 10 times our size."

He said: "But they are happy to pay for that and there's a well established tradition of people being willing to pay a premium for quality and highly specific information."

Mr Chisholm also said readers could look forward to a revamped weekend edition, more foreign correspondents and better online services in return for the increased price.

Business AM's first circulation audit suggested that it has a readership of nearly 11,000, putting it well on course to reach its first year target of 15,000.

The management said it hopes that in four years it will have 30,000 readers each day.

David Hutchison, a media lecturer at Glasgow's Caledonian University, said the paper was not being particularly ambitious.

'Modest targets'

"The interesting thing about the way they gone about this is how modest their targets actually are," he said.

"No-one else would ever dream of launching a newspaper, even in a small market like Scotland, saying they aim to sell 15,000 copies after a year.

"That is such a small target that, really, not to have got reasonably far towards it would be an enormous failure."

Mr Hutchison added: "The really crucial stage is getting beyond these targets to what one would regard as more financially realistic targets."