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The New European, the “Remainer” newspaper set up in response to the Brexit referendum, is to rebrand as The New World and revamp its coverage as it seeks to broaden its focus nine years after Britain voted to leave the EU.
Launched within days of the 2016 vote to fight for the UK’s place in the EU, the weekly publication has endured beyond initial plans for it to be a temporary title.
The title was bought out in 2021 by its management, backed by a consortium including CNN boss Sir Mark Thompson, former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, venture capitalists Robin and Saul Klein, and Taavet Hinrikus, the Estonian founder of Wise.
It is moving to a magazine format and looking to expand its coverage, with the new name signalling an ambition to move beyond its original European focus to tackle global political and cultural issues.
Matt Kelly, the former Daily Mirror executive who was the founding editor of The New European and became chief executive in the management buyout, said: “The New World as a rebrand reflects the fact that we think the fights have got bigger.”
Kelly said that while the title would still cover the UK’s relationship with the EU, “we recognise that Brexit really was just the beginning of a much larger phenomenon that spread across the world — about nationalism and a sense of democracy in peril”.
He added: “We need to fight for liberal, progressive ideas [and show] that there is an alternative to corrosive petty-minded nationalism.”
Alastair Campbell, editor-at-large of The New European and Number 10 communications director under Tony Blair, said the title would now seek to tackle the sorts of themes that underpinned the Brexit vote but which he said were now playing out around the world as politics shifted to the right in many countries.
“We’re always going to be very passionately anti-Brexit, very pro-internationalism, liberal democracy,” he said, adding the focus would be telling broader stories on issues such as politics and culture at a time when much UK-based journalism appeared to be focused inwards.
He added the rebrand was a result of how the world had changed since it was launched.
“When we started the paper, you could never have predicted [where we are],” he said. “Just to look at United States alone. You wouldn’t have predicted that Ukraine and Russia were going to be fighting a war on the edge of Europe. Lots has happened — it’s a reflection of that.”
But he said he would “never resile from the view that Brexit is the biggest act of self-harm that we’ve inflicted upon ourselves, certainly in my lifetime”.
The title made about £2.6mn in revenue last year on the back of about 35,000 subscribers. The revenues are almost entirely made up of subscriptions and news stand sales of about 4,500 per issue, with no advertising or additional grants.
Kelly said revenues were three times higher than they were when he took over the company in 2021, while subscriptions were up fourfold. He added the business had broken even last year but was currently trading at a small loss given the cost of investments for the next stage of its growth.
“We achieved our first target which was to make the business sustainable,” he said.
The title also raised funds in 2022 from subscribers and other individuals, with 2,200 people contributing £1mn, and valuing the group at a little over £6mn.
