Media Forum: Does the City need a free title?(newspaper in London)

Is there room in the London market for a financial freesheet, Alasdair Reid asks.

Lawson Muncaster, the soon-to-be proprietor of London Business Daily, presumably knows a thing or two about newspapers - and freesheets in particular.

He was, until earlier this year, the vice-president of global sales at Metro International, the publisher that has successfully launched free newspapers aimed at commuters in just about every city that matters around the world.

Except, interestingly enough, London, where it was beaten to the punch by Associated Newspapers.

But Muncaster has now chosen to test himself in London. Or, at least, one square mile of it. London Business Daily is likely to be a free daily newspaper aimed at upmarket decision-makers in the City.

Muncaster says the rationale is simple: London's business community has never been fully catered for in newspaper terms. He has already begun putting together financial and editorial teams (the paper will be edited by the former Sunday Express business editor David Parsley) and is now seeking a second round of funding to move the project towards launch, which should happen by the end of the year.

But hang on. Is there a gap in the market? Don't tell the Financial Times, which has for decades prided itself on its ability to cover not just the global economy but also the more mundane business issues closer to home.