Introduction – The Scottish Sun

The Scottish Sun, the largest newspaper in the UK and one of the largest in the world, was launched by Northern and Shell in March 1995 and, as the name suggests, delivers news from Scotland to a UK and global audience. It is Britain’s third largest paid-for newspaper and holds the number one or number two position for eight of the top 10 positions in the UK-wide Sunday newspaper sales charts. The Sunday edition carries the highest circulation of any British newspaper on sale in Scotland and for the past year has been the best selling Sunday newspaper in Scotland, with nearly 117,000 copies sold every Sunday. The newspaper also features an award-winning website which is available throughout the world, including a mobile phone version of the site.

Since 1995, The Scottish Sun has served readers in Scotland, UK and worldwide. The newspaper’s core readership base consists of 45% of the Scottish population, with readership of Scottish Sun also growing in Spain, Austria, Romania and the United States. With the launch of websites in 1996 and the 2003 launch of an international version, the online version of The Scottish Sun reached an audience of over 50 million people across the world, almost half of whom reside in the UK, as well as being the most successful in the newspaper industry, selling more online copies per week than any other UK newspaper. The Scotsman, another Scottish daily, reaches 16.8 million UK readers weekly.

The Scottish Sun’s Key Features

The Scotsman offers a full range of news features that not only delivers local news, business and sport but is also a significant multimedia news site, covering topics of interest to its readers across the United Kingdom and internationally.

The Scottish Sun’s key features include:

• Local news (49% of readers’ interest)

Scotsman Scottish news service, delivering content from the Scottish edition of The Scotsman.

• North-east, Scottish and general news (30% of readers’ interest)

The Scottish Sun is renowned for its editorial independence from its owners.

• A broad political spectrum (30% of readers’ interest)

The Scottish Sun brings together a wide range of opinion.

• Westminster, Europe, US and World news (18% of readers’ interest)

The Scottish Sun has a very strong presence on the global stage.

• Celebrity and sport news (15% of readers’ interest)

The Scottish Sun is renowned for the quality of its features and interviews.

• Business news (10% of readers’ interest)

More than 100 pages of the Scottish Sun magazine on business news.

• Sport and leagues news (7% of readers’ interest)

The Scottish Sun has a strong presence on the Scottish sports scene, providing great coverage of professional sport.

• Exclusive reporting (7% of readers’ interest)

For readers who want a cut-and-paste service, The Scotsman has a full HTML version of its back-catalogue.

• Keeping it local (6% of readers’ interest)

The Scotsman produces stories, features and local information on a regular basis for its readers.

• Sports, features and general news (3% of readers’ interest)

Sport features, news, pictures, classifieds, features, TV listings and reports for readers who love their local sporting scene.

• The Scottish Sun’s history

The Scottish Sun traces its history back to Edinburgh’s Tabernacle Coffee House in 1816.

• Scottish Edition to new markets

The Scottish Sun also publishes a Scottish edition and an English edition, with both serving audiences in Scotland.

Trust in paper

As well as The Scottish Sun being the top-selling Sunday newspaper in Scotland for the past ten years, the newspaper is also the number one newspaper brand, winning The Scottish Independent Newspaper Trust Award for the fourth consecutive year in 2017. Press Gazette’s editorial board named The Scotsman as one of the 10 best daily newspapers in the UK in its annual Local Newspaper Awards for three years in a row. 

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Funding from ProVision and NFU Mutual

As part of its 25th anniversary, the NFU Mutual and ProVision have backed a £200,000 crowdfunding campaign to mark the 25th anniversary of The Scotsman in 2018. The cash will help towards the cost of a major upgrade of the website, as well as creating additional jobs and expanding local news.

Kate Russell, Deputy Editor of The Scotsman, said: “We are thrilled to announce this partnership with NFU Mutual and ProVision. This is a real vote of confidence from two key industry groups who know the huge value of The Scotsman. It will enable us to expand our coverage of industry news, boost our commercial activities and provide more jobs in the community. We are excited to make The Scotsman even better in the years ahead.”

Elaine Ingham, Commercial Director, NFU Mutual, said: “We’ve been great supporters of The Scotsman over many years and are delighted to be partnering with them once again to celebrate this landmark anniversary. We look forward to working with The Scotsman to deliver new initiatives and opportunities for the agriculture sector and its community supporters.”

Kim Bradley, Executive Director of NFU Mutual’s Farm Business Unit, said: “This is the first time NFU Mutual has launched a dedicated farming-focused funding campaign and we are thrilled to be associated with such an iconic Scottish institution. As Scotland’s leading home, business and financial services provider, NFU Mutual is well placed to support innovative and effective projects across the food and farming sector.”