High hopes for Jack the Lad

THE new lads' mag Jack will be market leader in the quality men's sector by the end of next year, overtaking the likes of GQ and Esquire, founder and editor James Brown predicted.

Starting with a 100,000-print run Brown, ex-editor of Loaded, reckons he will sell 60,000 of the first edition out today, against the 125,000 circulation of market leader GQ. 'We believe Jack has huge potential and will bring diversity in a market that is being forecast to grow again,' he said.

In an innovative A5 format, Jack is the third substantive leg to I Feel Good, the Alternative Investment Market-quoted publisher of which Brown is chief executive.

The group was significantly changed by last year's £6.7m acquisition of Viz. A move to increase publication of the cult magazine from six to 10 issues a year has turned a long-term decline into 1.4% growth to 178,000 average monthly circulation since last summer.

A circulation rise at the downmarket Bizarre helped I Feel Good to a £95,000 profit from continuing operations for 2001, though losses - notably at its former Hotdog magazine - meant a £1.4m pre-tax group loss, 20% lower than in 2000.