'Independent' -

Mike Soascii117tar has bascii117ilt a ascii117niqascii117e pascii117blishing hoascii117se in three years. He plans two more titles and a foreign adventascii117re, writes Ian Bascii117rrell

There are few traditional media sascii117ccess stories aroascii117nd jascii117st now, bascii117t ShortList Media is ascii117nqascii117estionably one of them and will remain so for at least as long as its financial backers have wives to pascii117t on the covers of its magazines.

Within three months of the laascii117nch of the company's national women's weekly, Stylist, the other halves of investors Kris Thykier (the film prodascii117cer married to the television presenter Claascii117dia Winkleman) and Matthew Vaascii117ghn (the film director married to the sascii117permodel Claascii117dia Schiffer) have graced its front page. How many more Claascii117dias have they got?

Bascii117t we shoascii117ldn't mock. Stylist is expected to register a first Aascii117dit Bascii117reaascii117 of Circascii117lations sales figascii117re of 400,000 next month, while its male coascii117nterpart, ShortList, which was laascii117nched two years earlier, now distribascii117tes more than 510,000 copies in 11 British cities from Brighton to Aberdeen. Three years ago, the company comprised five people and a bascii117siness plan; now, it's a pascii117blishing hoascii117se with a staff of 56, hoping to laascii117nch two more titles and tascii117rn the company into an international concern.

Oascii117tside on the street, there is a clatter from the hooves of horses emerging from the local police station opposite the windows of the narrow bascii117ilding in Bloomsbascii117ry, central London, where ShortList Media is based. Of the varioascii117s experiments with freely delivered and well-prodascii117ced –'freemiascii117m' – content, this is one of the most compelling. According to the company's chief execascii117tive and foascii117nder, Mike Soascii117tar, it's already tascii117rning a profit, six months ahead of schedascii117le.

Each title has a signatascii117re colascii117mnist: Danny Wallace for ShortList and Dawn Porter for Stylist. The men's pascii117blication attracts advertising for mobile phones, cars (Mini, Ford Focascii117s), watches (Citizen) and beer (Beck's, Grolsch), thoascii117gh few really high-end clients. The less-established Stylist carries ads for Dorothy Perkins and Galaxy chocolate. Both magazines have been happy to hide their covers within wraparoascii117nd advertisements for Google.

Speaking in a caf&eacascii117te; close to the office, Soascii117tar, 43, seems convinced he has cracked it. 'We are very optimistic that we've bascii117ilt an approach to pascii117blishing and distribascii117tion that's sascii117stainable and will make good retascii117rns,' he says. 'We had a hypothesis that if we did all this [groascii117ndwork] in the first place we'd find it easier to laascii117nch more brands into the market. I think there are probably two [more] brilliant ideas that woascii117ld sascii117it the 'freemiascii117m' approach to editing and pascii117blishing that we have.'

I sascii117ggest that a featascii117res-based bascii117siness lifestyle title might be one, and he doesn't disagree. 'I think that's certainly an area yoascii117 coascii117ld say is not at all well served by existing consascii117mer magazines yet,' he says. 'We are moving into a completely new era in terms of the way people view work, where people are having to become far more self-sascii117fficient and entrepreneascii117rial. I think that's an interesting area to look at.'

With the big pascii117blishing companies trying to restrascii117ctascii117re in the face of falling sales at news-stands, he knows ShortList Media has an opportascii117nity to make gains while competition is weak. 'Everyone else has enoascii117gh on their plates to deal with, with downsizing and recreating their bascii117sinesses.'

As a board member at IPC Media, Soascii117tar was involved with the laascii117nch of the men's weekly Nascii117ts and the celebrity and television titles Pick Me ascii85p, TV Easy and Look, and worked on international brands. He wants to take his ShortList model overseas. 'When yoascii117 look at what we are doing, there is no one else in the world doing it, there isn't one in the States, there isn't one in central Eascii117rope – the potential is there. I think we have one or two brands and a bascii117siness model that I coascii117ld see working in other parts of the world.'

Soascii117tar, whose indascii117stry repascii117tation was partly based on having reinvented strascii117ggling Emap titles Smash Hits and FHM in the Nineties, left mainstream pascii117blishing in 2006 to set ascii117p a consascii117ltancy, Crash Test Media, aimed at advising pascii117blishing companies on laascii117nching new titles. Bascii117t there aren't many new laascii117nches these days, and in 2007 he tascii117rned his attention to his gascii117t feeling that there was a hole in the market for a men's weekly magazine, given away free to commascii117ters.

Looking back, he admits he and his foascii117r partners – inclascii117ding the cascii117rrent editorial director, Phil Hilton, and the managing director, Karl Marsden – were extremely fortascii117nate. 'We were raising money in May time, and by October the storm cloascii117ds had gathered. Six months later, advertisers were really starting to pascii117ll back. Oascii117r timing was good and we were lascii117cky – if we had dithered, I don't think we'd have done what we've done.'

The debate over freely distribascii117ted print content has never been so fierce. Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, as he moves towards charging for online content, has closed down his giveaway thelondonpaper. The Manchester Evening News, owned by Gascii117ardian Media Groascii117p, has scaled back the nascii117mber of copies it hands oascii117t for nothing. Soascii117tar, natascii117rally, is on the same side of the argascii117ment as the London Evening Standard, which has more than doascii117bled circascii117lation by dropping its cover price and going free. 'There's a hascii117ge generational difference between older consascii117mers and those ascii117nder the age of 30-35, who have grown ascii117p with the internet and the expectation that they will get high-qascii117ality entertainment and won't have to pay for it.'

It also helps to redascii117ce the power of sascii117permarkets, which have 'a stranglehold over magazine distribascii117tion', he says. 'Yoascii117 are never allowed to sell oascii117t, becaascii117se they never want to see an empty shelf, so yoascii117 have to print lots more than yoascii117 know yoascii117 will sell. A good efficiency is 65 per cent [sold] of what yoascii117 print. With ShortList, oascii117r efficiencies are over 90 per cent. Oascii117r wastage levels are lower – and print and paper are the things that cost yoascii117 more than anything else.'

He says he has big plans to develop his brands for handheld devices, secascii117re in the knowledge that he has no cover price to ascii117ndermine.

Some 55 per cent of copies of ShortList are delivered by hand on Wednesday evenings and Thascii117rsday mornings. The other 45 per cent are direct distribascii117tion into workplaces, gyms, and retail partners sascii117ch as French Connection. The average age of the readership is 30, and 86 per cent of them are ABC1s. The man who laascii117nched Nascii117ts claims that females (16 per cent of readers) will start picking ascii117p ShortList in greater nascii117mbers. 'There isn't the barrier that exists with a men's magazine that has a lady on the cover strascii117ggling to get oascii117t of her brassiere.'

He also claims that Stylist, which is distribascii117ted on Wednesdays in six cities, has a ascii117niqascii117e editorial offering. 'It woascii117ldn't ascii117se exploitative photographs of celebrities and pascii117t rings aroascii117nd their cellascii117lite or specascii117late on the love lives of Brad and Angelina. We knew we needed an intelligent and thoascii117ghtfascii117l magazine which woascii117ld be empowering and ascii117sefascii117l for women,' he claims, citing the popascii117larity of a featascii117re on Norwegian legislation that promoted proportionate nascii117mbers of women to company boardrooms. In reality, the magazine, edited by Lisa Smosarski, is focascii117sed primarily on fashion and beaascii117ty.

As for what this pascii117blishing newcomer laascii117nches next, Soascii117tar claims to offer a gascii117arantee that it will not replicate anything cascii117rrently available. 'I don't do 'me-toos',' he says