For those of you who missed my email in late September, this year’s autumn edition will be the final print edition of IFLR magazine. After nearly 40 years and hundreds of editions it is time to call it a day.
This wasn’t an easy decision. IFLR magazine has been part of the furniture at Euromoney since 1982. Once a monthly journal, the magazine has evolved over time, changing to a bimonthly and later, a quarterly.
It may not come as a surprise that we have taken this step. The decision to kill print has been seen all across the industry in recent years: from NME to the Weekly Standard to Teen Vogue, there is a long list of titles that have taken the decision to ‘go digital’.
The decision itself was made following extensive feedback from our subscribers. We regularly talk to our readers to help determine how best to improve our offering and ascertain subscriber needs. The IFLR team and I believe these changes will allow us to provide a better service to you. The pandemic has changed the way we work, and the feedback we received confirms that most subscribers are no longer receiving copies on desks, and no longer need them.
Our team wants to ensure that you receive the IFLR content you expect and that it reflects this new way of working. Without resorting to clichés, we believe a fully digital offering is the best way to achieve that.
We are also very conscious of global sustainability efforts. While it is only a small act, not printing thousands of copies every quarter to be distributed globally will ensure we maintain the very standards we promote on the website each and every week.
When the planning for the final edition started it was tempting to issue a backward-looking magazine that summarised the last four decades of IFLR magazine and highlighted some of the best editions, covers and features we published during that time. However, in the spirit of being a forward-looking, reactive publication that does not hold on to the past, we took a different path.
The final IFLR cover story could not be much more forward-looking – so much so that it is speculative. It is an in-depth analysis of Scottish independence.
Before the Brexit referendum, the concept of leaving the EU seemed so alien that the very thought of it seemed impossible. After the vote, the rush to cover the nitty-gritty details started in earnest and has barely slowed some five years later. Similarly, many seem to doubt that Scotland will ever separate from the United Kingdom. It may well never happen. But one may wonder whether it’s safe to assume that the status quo will remain in place when such a large portion of the population no longer supports it.
This edition’s cover takes a closer look at the regulatory and legal implications that the financial markets of the UK and an independent Scotland would face in the run-up to, and after, a vote for independence.
Of course, if anyone has any questions about our move away from print, please do not hesitate to reach out. Remember, you can still access all our best and latest banking, corporate, and capital markets content on the website.
Do, however, think of it as an evolution: IFLR is progressing, and we will only become brighter and better as a result of it.
John Crabb, Managing Editor – IFLR
