Newspaper & Mailroom
The Illustrated London News Turns a New Page
Monday 14. January 2008 - Full Scale Digitisation of the Historically Important Archive Also Planned
Illustrated London News Group, the customer publishing and digital agency which also owns the extensive archive of the Illustrated London News, has been acquired by a company backed by ILN Group’s managing director, Lisa Barnard, and a number of high-profile private investors.
The new company, Illustrated London News Limited, will maintain the core activity as a customer publishing and digital agency, with established clients including Maserati sPA, Rolls-Royce Motorcars, Orient-Express Hotels, National Express and Stagecoach. The new team will also enhance the opportunities of the prestigious archive of the Illustrated London News through digitisation of that content and has ambitious plans to reinvigorate the ILN brand itself. Archive content includes pre-1960 Tatler, The Graphic and the Bystander.
Illustrated London News has been acquired from Sea Containers, which bought the title in 1985, as part of its on-going programme of disposals of non-core assets.
Barnard, who has run the business since 2000, has become the majority shareholder in the new venture. Other new investors include Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic, Director of Virgin Rail Group and close adviser to Sir Richard Branson as well as Nick Miles and Hugh Morrison, the founders of the leading financial communications company, M:Communications.
Launched by Herbert Ingram in 1842, the Illustrated London News was the world’s first pictorial newspaper. With a commitment to accurate visual news reporting, it launched the world’s first colour supplement in 1855. In its heyday its circulation was 200,000, triple that of The Times of London at the time.
The Illustrated London News Picture Library is one of the most important magazine archives in the country and one of the richest sources of 19th and 20th century history. The ILN was important in launching the careers of many of Britain’s best loved artists and contains a rich seam of illustrations from the likes of William Heath Robinson (as well as his brother Charles) , Mabel Lucie Atwell, David Wright, W Matania, Lawson Wood, Melton Prior, George Studdy, Kate Greenaway and the cartoonist, H M Bateman.
But the words in the ILN were just as important- ILN contributors included Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy., J M Barrie, Wilkie Collins, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling and G.K. Chesterton.
The ILN archive consists of eight other titles: The Graphic, The Sphere, The Sketch, Bystander, The Tatler, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, The Illustrated War News and Britannia and Eve. All of these publications came together under the collective title “The Great Eight” of magazines in the late 1920s with the iconic Illustrated London News as its flagship.
The whole archive will remain under the ownership of Illustrated London News Limited, which recently entered into an agreement with the Mary Evans Picture Library, the UK’s leading source for historical images, to manage and house the collection. The new company plans to embark on a full-scale digitisation programme of the ILN. The extensive content will be marketed to new sectors world-wide and new publishing opportunities will be explored to reinvigorate the ILN brand.
Lisa Barnard, Managing Director of Illustrated London News Limited, said: “We are very fortunate to be the new owners of a publishing business with such a tremendous heritage. The ILN’s founder, Herbert Ingram, was a great innovator and we intend to remain true to his spirit.
“We will expand on the digital activities of the agency, while continuing to create customer communications in print for a growing number of the world’s leading brands.
“Our future is based on creating engaging content and pushing the boundaries in publishing. That was how the ILN started and that is how we will continue.”
Recent launches under the ILN umbrella have included Il Tridente, a global magazine for the Italian luxury sports car group, Maserati spA; a website and on-board magazine for East Midland Trains, part of the Stagecoach group; and World Class, a magazine promoting the travel operator Kuoni’s luxury collection.
Barnard is no stranger to the revival of respected and admired magazines. She was previously part of a management buy-in to Harpers Wine and Spirit Weekly, the oldest wine trade publishing business which was successfully turned around. She also launched Classic FM magazine for the radio station as well as Inside Hotels, a magazine focusing on the five-star hotel business.
The 35 staff will remain with the business which will continue to be based in central London.