The Times has closed its Money Mentor section but says it is relaunching its personal finance offering instead.
The Times launched Money Mentor in December 2019 as a free, in-front of the paywall site designed to “demystify finance” and make it “less complex and daunting” for readers.
Its Couch to £5k newsletter, a six-week series aimed at helping people build up their savings, was named best financial newsletter at the Publisher Newsletter Awards in June. The brand was also shortlisted for its four-week Pension Power-Up series.
The section’s webpage now reads: “Times Money Mentor is no longer operational, but you can still access a wide range of personal finance content and tools through Times Money, at thetimes.com/business-money/money.”
The Times has appointed Ben Wilkinson, formerly head of money at The Telegraph, to lead a revamped money section which is set to officially launch in the autumn.
A Times spokesperson told Press Gazette: “The Times and The Sunday Times are the destination for the very best personal finance journalism, useful tools, helpful analysis and expert advice.
“To ensure we are delivering effectively to our subscribers and our commercial partners, as well as continuing to engage new audiences, we are folding the very best of Times Money Mentor into an even bigger and better Money section across The Times and The Sunday Times.
“The relaunched Money section will become a multiplatform proposition. It will have its own position in the main navigation menu online and in-app, with a proportion on the best content available beyond the paywall. There will be print supplements, newsletters, Money social channels and video content.”
The spokesperson added that they aim for the relaunched section to be “the single comprehensive, best-in-class personal finance offer in UK journalism”.
Times Money Mentor deputy editor Katie Binns told the Publisher Newsletter Summit in June that the Couch to £5k and Pension Power-Up newsletters were “tied up closely with what Times Money Mentor is about” which was that it “shows you how to save money, how to make money, how to manage money, and how to live a rich life”.
Subscribers to the limited-run newsletters were moved onto the main weekly Times Money Mentor email after they ended to keep them engaged.
Binns said the newsletter also brought in affiliate revenue as it contained clickable deals on products like credit cards, insurance, ISAs and investment platforms.
She added that the newsletter also takes readers to Times Money Mentor’s Youtube series Bread and Honey, which was recently sponsored by HSBC.
“Quite quickly they start to enter the wider Times ecosystem,” she said.
News UK stablemate The Sun has recently replaced its business page with a daily Sun Money page focusing more heavily on consumer finance, led by head of consumer Tara Evans.
Sun business editor Ashley Armstrong left the title in June to join the Financial Times and the role does not appear to have been replaced.
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