The Morning Advertiser

About The Morning Advertiser

The Morning Advertiser is the definitive voice for licensees in the UK's on-trade sector — one of the oldest news publications in the world, established by the pub trade in 1794. First published as The Publican's Morning Advertiser by the London Society of Licensed Victuallers, it served the licensed trade in hard copy until 2020 and continues today as an online pub trade news publication attracting 143,371 unique users a month. It is published by William Reed Ltd from Broadfield Park, Crawley, with Ed Bedington as editor. Its website is morningadvertiser.co.uk.

The paper's history is extraordinary: in the mid-nineteenth century its circulation was second only to The Times; Charles Dickens was an early contributor and Alastair Campbell worked as a reporter on it early in his career; and in 1858 it became the first newspaper to subscribe to Reuters' news service. William Reed acquired the title in 2000, bought The Publican from United Business Media in 2011 and merged the two — returning the original name in July 2016 — and the brand now spans daily news, podcasts, video, events and the Great British Pub Awards.

Founded 1794 by the Licensed Victuallers

The Morning Advertiser was first published in 1794 by the London Society of Licensed Victuallers, founded as The Publican's Morning Advertiser. It was devoted to trade interests rather than to the support of a political party — the publicans' own paper, created in part to generate funds for the Society. It holds the claim to be the UK's oldest continuously produced paper: uniquely, it continued to print despite paper rationing during the war, never missing a beat since its launch.

The paper's early decades coincided with the great age of the British pub, and its circulation — fostered by the Society — grew steadily: 4,500 in 1836, rising to 7,600 by 1854. By the middle of the nineteenth century it was second only to The Times in circulation, a remarkable position for a trade paper and a measure of the licensed trade's importance in Victorian Britain.

Dickens, Reuters and Fleet Street Firsts

Charles Dickens was an early contributor to the paper, writing for it in the years when he was establishing himself as a journalist and novelist. More than a century later, Alastair Campbell — later the journalist, broadcaster and Labour Party communications director — worked as a reporter on the paper early in his career. Few trade publications can claim two such alumni.

In 1858 the paper became the first newspaper to subscribe to Reuters' news service — a Fleet Street first that underlined its standing as a serious news publication, not merely a trade sheet. For many years it was published as a daily paper, rich in the history of the industry it served.

William Reed Ownership

In 2000 William Reed — the family-owned B2B publisher founded in 1862, publisher of The Grocer since that year — acquired the Morning Advertiser. The fit was natural: William Reed described itself as the leading media owner in the UK's hospitality market, and the Morning Advertiser, the longest continuously published paper in the country, became a key part of its comprehensive print, digital and events portfolio serving the pub sector.

The acquisition brought the 1794 title together with William Reed's growing hospitality stable — Restaurant magazine, BigHospitality.co.uk, the MA250 and Restaurant R200 networking clubs — creating a publishing group that could serve every corner of the eating and drinking-out market.

Merger with The Publican, 2011

In March 2011 William Reed Business Media bought The Publican from United Business Media and merged the two leading titles in the pub trade press. From 7 April that year they published as The Publican's Morning Advertiser — the original 1794 name — combining the best content from both magazines, websites and events programmes, with an anticipated combined circulation of 32,000–34,000 copies.

The merger united more than three decades of Publican coverage with the Advertiser's two centuries of heritage. In July 2016 the merged title reverted to the simpler Morning Advertiser name. Publisher Tim Brooke-Webb won Publisher/Business Manager of the Year at the 2012 Professional Publishers' Association Awards for his work on the title.

Digital-Only Since 2020

As of April 2020 the printed magazine was suspended and all content moved to morningadvertiser.co.uk, which attracts 143,371 unique users per month. The move — accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic that devastated the pub trade — made the MA a digital-first brand: daily breaking news, business-building content, analysis, online and face-to-face events, podcasts and video.

The brand describes itself as the essential resource for keeping a finger on the pulse of the UK licensed trade, delivered by a team of award-winning journalists covering the issues and stories impacting decision-makers — from business rates and beer duty to staffing, regulation and the changing drinking-out market.

Awards: Great British Pub Awards and More

The brand hosts some of the most prestigious events in the pub calendar: the Great British Pub Awards, the Great British Pub Food Awards, the Top 50 Gastropubs and the Publican Awards. These ceremonies celebrate the best pubs, publicans, pub companies and food offers in Britain — the businesses at the heart of the communities the magazine serves.

The awards are the public face of the brand's mission: to champion the licensed trade and recognise the excellence within it. For publicans, a Great British Pub Award is among the highest honours the industry can bestow.

Editorial Mission: The Licensees' Voice

The Morning Advertiser describes itself as the definitive voice for licensees in today's ever-changing on-trade sector — offering the latest pub news and advice-driven content for publicans, alongside the insights and information to help their businesses succeed. Its journalism is practical and campaigning: on the issues that determine whether pubs survive and thrive.

From its founding purpose — generating funds for the Society of Licensed Victuallers — to its modern role as the trade's digital news service, the title has always existed to serve the people who run Britain's pubs. That continuity of mission across 230 years is unmatched in British journalism.

230 Years of the Morning Advertiser

From the London Society of Licensed Victuallers' paper of 1794 to William Reed's digital news brand of today, The Morning Advertiser has been the continuous thread of the British pub trade's story: through the Victorian boom, two world wars, the rise and fall of the great breweries, the smoking ban, the craft beer revolution and the pandemic.

As one of the longest-running news publications in the world — and, its publisher notes, the longest continuously published paper in the country — it remains what it was founded to be: the pub trade's own paper, now at morningadvertiser.co.uk.

230 Years: Dickens, Reuters and the Licensed Victuallers

The Morning Advertiser was first published in 1794 — founded as The Publican's Morning Advertiser by the London Society of Licensed Victuallers, just a year after the charity itself was founded, to raise money in support of the trade. The first edition, dated Saturday 8 February, cost £686 11s 9d to produce and was priced at 3½p — half a penny less than The Times, whose circulation it ran second to in the mid-19th century (4,500 copies in 1836, rising to 7,600 by 1854). First-quarter revenues exceeded £2,175, though taxes and duties left a profit of just £111 — enough, the proprietors judged, to make the paper viable. Its profits helped open the charity's first school for children of the licensed trade in Kennington Lane, south London, in 1803, hosting 14 girls and six boys.

The paper's history is woven into Fleet Street legend: Charles Dickens was an early contributor, and the young Alastair Campbell worked as a reporter on it early in his career. In 1858 it became the first newspaper to subscribe to Reuters' news service. In 2011 William Reed bought The Publican from United Business Media and merged the two titles from 7 April as The Publican's Morning Advertiser — the paper's original 1794 name — before the merger returned its title to The Morning Advertiser in July 2016. The printed magazine was suspended in April 2020 and all content moved online; the website now attracts 143,371 unique users a month. Ed Bedington is the editor, and the brand hosts the Great British Pub Awards, the Great British Pub Food Awards and the Top 50 Gastropubs. Its website is morningadvertiser.co.uk.