Bright future for your Evening Standard

In last Friday's London Evening Standard, we announced that from Monday 12 October we will become the first quality newspaper in the world to go free.

The response to the bold decision to increase circulation to 600,000 copies, making the quality paper accessible to more Londoners than ever before, has been welcomed by commentators and, most important of all, by readers.

The Guardian this morning quotes Alan Brydon, the head of press at media planners and buyers MPG, as saying that the move is “fantastic from a reader's point of view”.

Media commentator Stephen Glover writes in The Independent today that it is a pioneering move by Alexander Lebedev, Chairman of Evening Standard Ltd: “It's a bit like trying to forecast whether a modestly provisioned schooner will ever touch land in the New World. I hope it will.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, enthuses that the decision is a great gift to this city. Like the museums and the royal parks, the Evening Standard will be a daily free pleasure for Londoners.

We will continue to abide by our recycling policy. The Evening Standard will remain the same newspaper with the same award-winning journalism.

All your favourite writers and columnists will be in your Standard as normal. All the daily sections will remain on the same days. ES magazine will continue to be published on Fridays and Homes and Property on Wednesday.

We will be giving more details this week of our new distribution plans so that you can ensure you can get your copy of the Standard.

The newspaper, which you will be able to pick up easily throughout the city, will continue to fight for the interests of London, celebrating what is great about the capital and investigating corruption or incompetence.

With 600,000 copies available daily, it becomes an irresistible force in London and a beacon to cities all over the world.