Looks like it's not just newsagents that are paying for free newspaper the London Evening Standard. Some shops in suburban London are charging consumers to cover their costs, The Guardian reports.

In October, the paper dropped its 50 pence cover price and went free. Since then, it has more than doubled circulation, from 250,000 copies to just fewer than 600,000 copies. There are plans to increase this number even further, to 800,000 or even 1 million.

The trade-off is that it also cut back on the number of its distribution outlets, particularly in the outer suburbs of London. Demand from newsagents and consumers in suburbs outside its new distribution area has been strong enough, though, that the newspaper is trialling delivery to two new areas in north-east and north-west London.

In order to cover costs for the delivery drivers, the paper will charge these newsagents 15 pence a copy. This is substantially more than the 2 pence that some London retailers are paying to stock the paper.

Some shops are not charging consumers for the paper, hoping that while they collect their copy they will make other purchases.

But other newsagents are charging. The Evening Standard has prepared a £1-a-week deal to have the paper reserved, but individual outlets are free to set their own price.

This new distribution scheme is a trial, and stockists who sign up will not have to pay the 15p until February. In the interim, newsagents are working out which revenue model will work best. Much like the newspaper industry itself, it seems.

In related news, the Evening Standard has announced that it will stop publishing over the Christmas and New Year period. Editions will stop on December 24 and reappear on 4 January. This will bring it into line with other freesheets without impacting circulation figures, which are not measured over the Christmas period. According to The Guardian, staff are "encouraged" to take holidays from December 29-31, days the paper would normally publish.

Source: The Guardian