The Time Out plot thickens

Via morning_theft on Manchester's Journal (link tk), some more interesting details about Time Out Manchester to be gleaned from this press release. I'm just pasting it below...

Time Out Manchester special edition for Thursday September 21 - Friday October 20 2006.

Time Out is delighted to announce that it will be making its debut in Manchester this September. Bringing its inimitable and hugely successful blend of definitive, independent information to the city at this time is not a coincidence.

The huge cultural and economic growth seen in the last few years and the spotlight provided by the Labour Party conference in the city for the first time since 1917 has meant that visitor figures are expected to rise in the 'capital' of the North by 17,000 during the Autumn.

Tony Elliott, the founder and owner of the international Time Out brand said, "It is the perfect time to provide this fantastic city with its own 'handbook'. There is so much going on that people need to know about."

The one-off publication will hit the city on September 20 covering Thursday September 21 - Friday October 20 2006 (4 weeks) and be a hybrid between a Time Out visitors' guide and a general listings guide for the city during this period. A weekly Time Out Manchester is planned for spring 2007.

Time Out Manchester grew out of discussions with Manchester City Council and Marketing Manchester about the launch of the weekly title. MCC and MM were enthusiastic about the possibility of a one-off Time Out-branded publication that would celebrate Manchester this Autumn.

Time Out Manchester will have a print run of 30,000 of which around 10,000 will go on sale for 1.50 in Manchester and the North-West; the rest will be given away to the Labour Party delegates (direct to their hotel rooms), via direct mail and to cultural outlets and key distribution destinations throughout the city centre.

The publication will focus on the vitality and vibrancy of the city in the same way as the London edition and is designed to be both useful and exciting to anyone in Manchester in the period.

Editor Bill Borrows, a born and bred Mancunian, heads up a team of new and exciting journalists from the city who will be bringing their knowledge, enthusiasm and talent to the project. Borrows has written for almost every national newspaper, including time as a columnist on the Daily Mirror, and worked for magazines as various as Marie Claire, Red and Maxim (where he was Editor-at-Large) as well as editing magazines for the British Tourist Authority,

SKY and working as a consultant on several others.

Contributors include award-winning food critic Andy Shanahan, Alex McCann (editor of music website designermagazine.org), Susie Stubbs (Editor of All Saints, No Sinners magazine), Caroline Shaw (former editor of both Theme and City magazine), author and broadcaster Flic Everett and Elbow frontman and XFM DJ Guy Garvey.

Local photographers and creatives including Peter Saville, architecture specialist Phil Griffin and famous Manc rock photographer Karen McBride have all been commissioned to contribute to the pages.

Looking to the future and to launching a weekly magazine in 2007, Time Out Manchester aims to reflect, document and inform the city with the same level of expertise, outstanding editorial content and definitive listings established and honed over 38 years in London. By working closely with Marketing Manchester, local agencies and organisations Time Out will evolve and develop into a definitive weekly guide for Manchester.

Time Out Group Chairman Tony Elliott adds, "The next 12 months are a tremendously exciting time for the Time Out Group. We are expanding both nationally and internationally, and are greatly looking forward to being involved in this vibrant and vital city and welcoming our Manchester team to Time Out."