More success for 'The Independent' - and a new start for Sundays

Since August two years ago, The Independent's sales have grown by more than 18 per cent, and last Saturday's issue of the paper, which featured a free DVD of the film Indochine, had a circulation of 386,000 - the highest sale for a single edition of the paper for eight years.

Ivan Fallon, chief executive of Independent News and Media (UK), said: "These figures underline the strength of The Independent in the face of heavy competition, and we expect our October figures to show more improvement."

Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent, said: "We will continue to build on the established strengths of the paper by adding value to our package, and on Monday and Tuesday next week, we have a free two-part colour magazine called 'Disappearing World', which focuses on 100 aspects of the natural world that are under threat. We are delighted with our latest circulation figures, and thank all our readers, new and old."

This weekend also sees a further step forward for our stable of newspapers when, tomorrow, The Independent on Sunday becomes the only quality compact paper in the Sunday market. The new Independent on Sunday will comprise a 104-page main news section including comment, news review and sport. The paper will also include a new 24-page pull-out travel section, the Compact Traveller, plus a separate business section, and two magazines, the ABC arts review with seven-day television and the award-winning Sunday Review. Mr Fallon said: "This is another first for the Independent papers, building on the compact revolution we launched two years ago. This move will further enhance our papers' reputation for innovation."