| City AM | |
| Logo Border: | yes |
| Image Border: | yes |
| Motto: | Business With Personality |
| Type: | Freesheet daily newspaper |
| Format: | Tabloid |
| Owner: | THG Ingenuity |
| Chief Editor: | Christian May |
| Managing Editor: | Rupert Hargreaves |
| Opinion Editor: | Alys Denby |
| Publishing City: | London |
| Publishing Country: | United Kingdom |
| Circulation: | 68422 |
| Circulation Date: | January 2026 |
| Circulation Ref: | 68,422 January 2026 [1] |
| Issn: | 2516-5445 |
| Eissn: | 2516-5453 |
City AM is a free business-focused newspaper distributed in and around London, England, with an accompanying website. In January 2025, it had a monthly online readership of 4m.[2]
In January 2026 it had a print circulation of 68,422[3] .[4]
City AM was launched in September 2005. Its launch editor was former Sunday Times and Sunday Express journalist David Parsley. He was succeeded by Allister Heath, who joined in February 2008 and was editor for six years. He was previously the editor of The Business, a weekly magazine which closed in February 2008. David Hellier, formerly of The Independent and the Daily and Sunday Express, replaced Heath and served until 2015 when he was replaced by Christian May. Andy Silvester replaced May in November 2020, relaunching the newspaper and website after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Christian May returned as the Editor-in-Chief in the summer of 2024. [5]
The news section is primarily made up of business, financial and economic stories, as well as political and regulatory stories relevant to its readership. The paper regularly runs interviews of business leaders. The news pages also contain a variety of corporate and economic commentary.
In recent years, the newspaper has expanded its coverage beyond purely financial stories to include broader reporting on the business environment, and has significantly increased its coverage of tech, fintech and hospitality businesses in particular.
The lifestyle pages cover a wide range of topics, including travel, restaurant reviews, food, fashion, technology, books, the arts, entertainment, motoring and property. The sport section reports and comments on all the major events and games, with a bias towards sports of interest to London-based professionals.
The paper's philosophy is broadly supportive of the free-market economy, of capitalism, of private enterprise and of the City of London and those who work in it.
In recent years, the paper has also been more outspoken than other UK newspapers on the need to build more housing, liberalise immigration law and support the London economy.
The paper's front page is dominated by a large capitalised banner headline reminiscent of a traditional UK popular newspaper. The rest of the news stories, as well as the commentary and features, come in bite-sized chunks, in a modern compact-style format illustrated with images, bullet points and diagrams.
The newspaper includes a debate column in the comments section, which involves politicians with an opposite view on a subject, such as on Brexit or economic reform, give short answers explaining their case.[6]
Alongside the newspaper, other initiatives include The City AM Magazine, a quarterly lifestyle magazine for City professionals.
City AM also hosts City AM Awards, an annual event that celebrates London's individuals and companies, the Toast Awards, toasting hospitality in the City of London and the Dragon Awards, an ESG annual event.[7]
City AM Ltd was sold to THG plc by The Blue Bull Limited, NashCo Ltd and co-founders Lawson Muncaster and Jens Torpe in July 2023.[4] In January 2025, THG plc demerged its technology and logistics arm, THG Ingenuity, into a privately owned, stand-alone business.[8]
The newspaper is published in print Tuesday to Thursday with a "digital edition" on Mondays and Fridays,[9] and is distributed at more than 400 selected commuter hubs across London and the Home Counties, as well as over 500 offices throughout the City, Canary Wharf and other areas of high business concentration, with an average daily circulation of 68,422 copies as of January 2026.
It is typically available from around 6am at London commuter stations and is handed out at key points in the City, Canary Wharf and other central London locations.[10]
There are now two principal free newspapers in London: Metro (which also distributes nationally), and City AM. City AM is aimed at private-sector workers, especially those in finance, professional and business services and corporations, and those who are interested in investing and personal finance.
The newspaper announced a major digital expansion in March 2014 and appointed Metros head of digital content Martin Ashplant to be its digital and social media director. Chief executive Jens Torpe said at the time that he expected the website audience to grow to be bigger than the printed version.[11] In October 2014, City AM reported that it had seen its website traffic grow almost three-fold in a year.[12] In 2015, cityam.com became the first UK newspaper website to prevent users with ad blockers switched on from reading content.[13]
The website was relaunched under the editorship of Andy Silvester in 2021, alongside the relaunch of the newspaper after the pandemic. It achieved a series of record months for traffic after the relaunch.
| Years | Editor | |
|---|---|---|
| 2005–2008 | David Parsley | |
| 2008–2014 | Allister Heath | |
| 2014–2015 | David Hellier | |
| 2015–2020 | Christian May | |
| 2020–2024 | Andy Silvester | |
| 2024–present | Christian May |
