Metro newspaper celebrates 10 years of publication

The Metro newspaper is celebrating its 10th birthday today by publishing a 12-page supplement looking back over its first decade.

"We are 10", proclaims the headline on today's special feature.

"When Metro was born 10 years ago, the world was a very different place," says the accompanying article.

"Britney was just an innocent-looking teenager in a school uniform. Tony Blair was prime minister, still riding the wave of euphoria that swept him to power."

Its distribution has grown to more than 1.3m daily readers as the publisher cut a number of partnerships with regional publishers to supply local editions of the title across the UK.

Metro is now distributed in 16 major cities in the UK working in partnership with the regional publishing groups Trinity Mirror, Northcliffe Media, Johnson Press and Guardian Media Group, which also publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk.

The supplement includes a run-down of 10 years of news coverage in the paper, selected front pages from the decade and a centre page ad thanking readers for their support.

An article on page 28 of this morning's Metro, number 2,457, details the how the first edition hit the streets on Tuesday 16 March 1999.

"There would be no more tube journeys passing time by staring at the person opposite - Metro had arrived.

"There were 85,000 copies of the first 40-page edition. The front-page splash that day was the death of civil rights campaigner and solicitor Rosemary Nelson, killed by a car bomb planted by a loyalist paramilitaries outside her home in Northern Ireland."

Daily Mail and General Trust's division Associated Newspapers launched Metro after witnessing the success of the free newspaper model in Sweden and securing a landmark distribution deal with London Underground to give the paper away each morning in its stations.

In 2005, Associated also launched an edition in Dublin after forging a joint venture with Irish Times and Metro International, then launched a web spinoff in 2004 and a range of mobile sites in 2007.

Its successful free paper model was imitated in 2006 by News International, which launched the London Paper, to be distributed free each weekday afternoon in the capital, forcing Associated to launch a second free paper, London Lite, to rival it.

The pre-eminence and profitability of the morning Metro, however, may come under threat later this year as the contract to supply newspapers in the underground network comes up for tender. Tender documents are due to be released next month.

Metro was granted a generous 10-year initial contract, however many believe that when the new deal launches, around April next year, it could include an afternoon distribution, which may draw bids from other publishers.

To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.