National World plc is a British multimedia company based inLeeds, England. The company was founded and listed on theLondon Stock Exchange in September 2019 as a media takeover vehicle. In January 2021, it acquired JPIMedia for £10.2 million.[1][2][3][4]
In April 2022, JPIMedia was rebranded to National World.[5] Since purchasing JPIMedia, National World has launched sixteen new titles and made a further seven acquisitions,[6] notably Insider Media.[7]
On 31 December 2020, it was announced that JPIMedia Publishing Ltd (formerlyJohnston Press[11]) and its subsidiaries were being sold to National World PLC on 2 January 2021. The new company was set up by the media executiveDavid Montgomery.[12][13]
On 29 April 2022, JPIMedia Publishing Ltd rebranded to National World Publishing Ltd, otherwise known as National World.[5]
In September 2023, it was announced that the Graham family-owned Claverley Group had sold its subsidiaryMidland News Association to National World PLC. The £11m sale included the regional daily newspapersShropshire Star andExpress & Star, and a number of weekly titles, along with Press Computer Systems, which supplies publishing platforms for both MNA and other major publishers includingNewsquest andDC Thomson. The sale marked Claverley Group's exit from regional newspaper publishing.[14]
Since the acquisition of JPI Media, National World Plc has made further launches and acquisitions.[15]
In March 2021, nationalworld.com was launched as a national news website with an editorial team across the UK.[16] This was followed by the launch of city websites in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, London,[17] Birmingham and Bristol.[15] Further sites were launched for Northern Ireland, Sussex, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire.[18]
Subsequent launches were made in 2023 into Nottingham[19] and Derby,[20] and further national sites were launched, peopleworld.co.uk[21] and 3addedminutes.com.[22] National World also acquired the assets of football website publisher Scoopdragon and video content aggregator Newschain,[23] and news titles such as Newry Reporter,[24] Farm Week[25] andBanbridge Chronicle.[26]
On 2 May 2023 the company announced the acquisitions of business media provider Insider Media as well as Yorkshire publisher theRotherham Advertiser.[7]
NationalWorld owns one of Scotland's national titles,The Scotsman
On 7 August 2023[31] National World launched Shots!, a website devoted to football chat, true crime shows[32] and real life stories. National World also acquired a streaming slot for Shots! on Freeview channel 276, where it runs 24 hours a day and features shows such asThe Heritage Chart Show withMike Read,Walks Around Britain[33] andExceptional Homes,[34] along with reports such asI Was inByker Grove.[35][36][37]
