Manchester lifestyle magazines - can they all survive?

Anyone that ventures into a restaurant or bar in Manchester can not fail to notice the abundance of lifestyle magazines that are given away freely. I can think of nearly ten Manchester lifestyle publications with little effort although some are sold over the counter.

Nothing wrong with that, but can they all survive? The question puzzled me a little further when I came across two new magazines on Friday: Your Quarter and PaD. Is there really room for more?

The more established magazines have a presence and readership. Cheshire Life has over 17,00 audited readers and is part of a group of papers that claims a audited circulation of 62,000 and readership of over 400,000. The Magazine ensures it is well read by the marketing efforts of its staff.

And the new boys?

Well, they have the advertising spend. They are all glossies that often mix the editorial and advertising evenly; not too swamped with the "important messages." They can be fun.

PRs with consumer accounts must love them. Mancunians must love them.

Yet, if the economy gets tougher and if the fripperies of a large disposable income are taken away, surely many will not be with us. They must be under tremendous pressure now with even more newcomers joining the fray.

We will see. Until then I will check out my dream 5 bedroom city centre loft conversion as I am sure many other readers do - perhaps that is where the answer lies.