The Guardian and The Observer will publish its final Berliner-size editions this weekend ahead of a switch to a tabloid format on Monday as part of a cost savings move.
The newspapers, which are owned by the Guardian Media Group, said last June that it would relaunch under the smaller size and confirmed the date of the move last month.
The European-style Berliner format, which is taller than a tabloid but narrower and shorter than a broadsheet, was introduced by the Guardian in 2005, with the Observer following soon after. It was hailed by the newspaper as “the best of both worlds”.
Three special printing presses were commissioned at a cost of £50 million, with a total investment of £80 million in its printworks in London and Manchester. These will now be sold or scrapped.
The Guardian’s print circulation in the UK dropped below 150,000 last year, while the Observer sells about 175,000 copies on Sunday. The circulation of both is less than half what the newspapers sold in physical form in 2005.
