LeftLion

About LeftLion

LeftLion is a monthly arts and culture magazine and companion website based in Nottingham, England, and one of the most recognisable independent media brands in the city. Published by LeftLion Ltd, it covers Nottingham's music, art, food, history, sport and alternative culture in an informal, often colloquial style that frequently slips into Nottingham dialect. The publication takes its name from the pair of stone lions that flank the steps of Nottingham's Council House in Old Market Square; the left-hand one, known colloquially as "the left lion", has served as a meeting point for Nottingham residents since the building opened in 1929. Founded as a website in autumn 2003 by three childhood friends, Jared Wilson, Alan Gilby and Tim Bates, LeftLion produced its first print issue in 2004 and has since grown into a monthly magazine with a circulation of around 10,000 copies, distributed free across the city and county, alongside a website updated daily with news, reviews, features and comprehensive event listings.

Origins

LeftLion began life in autumn 2003 as a website focused on alternative culture in Nottingham, created by friends Jared Wilson, Alan Gilby and Tim Bates. According to the publication's own account of its formation, the trio came together as a collective of journalists, photographers, illustrators, designers and web developers who felt that nobody was giving Nottingham the media coverage the city deserved. The first printed edition of LeftLion magazine followed in 2004. The name proved to be a neat piece of civic branding: the left lion outside the Council House was already a well-known rendezvous point, so the magazine's slogan, "Where Nottingham Meets", grew directly out of the city's own street furniture. The publication quickly established itself as the de facto alternative media outlet of choice in Nottingham, distinguishing itself from competitors by generating entirely original articles about the city and its people rather than relying on syndicated copy, an approach it maintains in both its printed and online formats.

From bi-monthly to monthly

For its first decade in print, LeftLion magazine was published bi-monthly. The step up to a monthly schedule came in 2014, following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter that funded the expansion. Since then the magazine has continued as a monthly publication, distributed via venues, public buildings and businesses in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Monthly issues are often loosely themed; past themes have included the climate crisis, wellbeing and transhumanism. The online magazine, which is operated concurrently with the print edition and shares many of the same articles, is updated daily. Both the website and the printed magazine carry listings of upcoming events in and around the city of Nottingham, a service that has long been central to the brand's identity.

Editorial style and content

LeftLion tends to be written in an informal or colloquial style, often including elements of Nottingham dialect, which gives it a voice that is distinctly of the city rather than about it. Content spans music and gig coverage, art and exhibitions, food and drink, local history, theatre, film and city politics, with recurring features such as "Overheard in Notts", restaurant reviews and "Pick Six" interviews with local creatives. Regular columns follow the city's football and ice hockey teams under wry titles such as "Left Brian", "Left Magpie" and "Left Panther", covering Nottingham Forest, Notts County and the Nottingham Panthers respectively. The magazine's history features are particularly strong: issues have explored the Franklin Expedition, Nottingham's old factories, local scientific discoveries, the 1766 Cheese Riots and the story of HP Sauce, which was invented in Nottingham in 1884. The publication claims a team of more than 200 writers, photographers, illustrators and designers from across the region, many of whom also create work for outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Channel 4, the Daily Mirror, Cosmopolitan, Nike, Pepsi Cola and Paul Smith.

Distribution and circulation

The printed magazine has a total circulation of around 10,000 copies per issue. It is distributed free through a network of venues, public buildings and businesses across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, placing it in pubs, clubs, galleries, shops and cultural spaces where its target readership congregates. Because it is free at the point of pickup and supported by advertising, sponsorship and reader support, the magazine functions as a genuinely accessible city publication rather than a niche paid-for title. The website leftlion.co.uk extends that reach well beyond the city's borders, carrying much of the magazine's content to readers anywhere, updated daily with news and reviews.

Leadership

Jared Wilson, one of the three founders, remains editor-in-chief, a role he has held since February 2009. Sophie Gargett became editor in June 2023. The continuity of leadership is one of the publication's distinguishing features: Wilson has been at the helm of the magazine from its earliest days, shaping its voice and its fiercely independent stance. The operation is run by LeftLion Ltd, a privately held company headquartered in Nottingham. On LinkedIn the company describes its industry as book and periodical publishing and lists specialties including print, web, media, creative design, copywriting, video production and Nottingham culture, with a company size of 11 to 50 employees and a broader contributor network of over 200.

The website

The online edition at leftlion.co.uk is updated daily and mirrors much of the magazine's content while also carrying web-only news, reviews, interviews and videos. The site's listings section is one of the most comprehensive guides to upcoming events in Nottingham, covering gigs, club nights, theatre, comedy, exhibitions and community events. The website also archives past magazine issues and carries the publication's podcasts and film coverage. As with the magazine, the website is free to read, and LeftLion has increasingly appealed to its readership for direct financial support to keep its journalism free for everyone, asking readers to contribute a few pounds a month to sustain the operation.

Beyond publishing: events and merchandise

LeftLion's activities extend well beyond running a magazine and a website. The organisation has hosted music, art and spoken word events, and has helped raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity through involvement with festivals such as Drop in the Ocean, the Hockley Hustle and Splendour. It produces its own range of merchandise and once even had a beer brewed in its honour: "Guzzgog", made in collaboration with Nottingham's Castle Rock Brewery. These ventures reinforce the brand's identity as a cultural institution embedded in the city's creative life rather than merely an observer of it.

The Lord of Milan documentary

One of LeftLion's most ambitious projects has been its move into documentary film. The magazine produced its first feature-length documentary, The Lord of Milan, telling the tale of Herbert Kilpin, the Nottingham-born man who founded AC Milan. The film was screened internationally, with editor-in-chief Jared Wilson travelling to China in 2018 to show it in two of the country's biggest sports arenas. The project was emblematic of LeftLion's approach: taking a thread of Nottingham history that had been largely forgotten and weaving it into something with international resonance.

Place in Nottingham's media landscape

In a city with a long-established regional newspaper, the Nottingham Post, LeftLion occupies the distinct territory of independent, alternative media. Its deliberately local voice, its free distribution model and its roots in the city's creative community have made it what the company itself calls "the most recognisable independent brand in Nottingham". That identity has attracted commercial attention as well as cultural cachet: alongside countless local independent brands, LeftLion has worked with the likes of Carlsberg, Gatecrasher, Rock City, Reading Festival, Jim Beam, Firetrap and Nottingham City Council. More than twenty years after three friends set up a website about their city, LeftLion remains the place where Nottingham meets, in print, online and in person.