The Skinny North is Closing

It’s with a heavy heart that we can officially confirm the upcoming issue of The Skinny North, The Skinny’s sister edition covering the North of England, will be the last. For the past four years, The Skinny North has been reporting on the lively cultural scene within Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester and enjoyed huge support from people putting on vibrant and vital events in the area, from the region's largest institutions to its smallest DIY promoters.

We’ve been proud to give a platform to exciting emerging artists, bands, filmmakers, comedians and theatre-makers to discuss their practices alongside features with some of the world’s most renowned creatives. The Skinny North has also been a place where young, talented writers have honed their craft at the start of their careers, while more established journalists from the region found a publication where they had the freedom and support to write more considered pieces that dug deep into local culture.

However, in the wake of unprecedented staff departures we have been forced to take the decision to close down our print edition in the North of England, meaning that the July/August issue will be the final bimonthly magazine.

In the past year we've worked hard to recalibrate the publication, adapting to a new bimonthly model and changing our processes across the board to craft a publication that is specifically geared to our local audience. It's been really well received, but operationally it continues to be challenging. With a number of senior staff moving on to new roles simultaneously we have been faced with an enormous challenge in terms of recruitment and training, one which we are unfortunately unable to meet at this stage.

This is sad news for all of us and we thank all our partners, sponsors, advertisers, writers, and most importantly, our readers for the encouragement and love they’ve shown The Skinny North since its launch in April 2013.

But we want to go out as we arrived – with a bang! Our final bimonthly issue will be a massive celebration of the creativity of the North, particularly during our four years of operation. We’re also planning a special blow-out on 14 July at the mighty Islington Mill to celebrate over four years of being a kickarse magazine.

The lineup is to TBC, but if you’d be interested in getting involved drop up a line events@theskinny.co.uk.