Time Out

Time Out began in 1968 when Tony Elliott, a 21-year-old Keele University student, used a £70 birthday gift from his aunt to print a one-sheet pamphlet on his mother's kitchen table in Kensington. That first issue listed London events with a counter-culture edge, covering gay rights, racial equality, and police harassment from an alternative viewpoint. Bob Harris served as co-editor. The print run started at 5,000 copies but quickly grew to a weekly circulation of 110,000 as the magazine became essential reading for Londoners.

Through the 1990s, Time Out embedded itself in London's cultural fabric. It ran the first interviews with Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and the Spice Girls, sponsored the controversial Sensation exhibition of Young British Artists, and championed Britpop and Trainspotting. In 1995, the brand launched Time Out New York, its first international edition, proving the concept could travel. That same year, the first Time Out website went live. By 2012, the London edition switched to free distribution, reaching over 307,000 weekly readers. The magazine won International Consumer Magazine of the Year in 2010 and 2011, and International Consumer Media Brand of the Year in 2013 and 2014.

Time Out expanded beyond publishing in 2014 by opening Time Out Market in Lisbon. These curated food halls feature local vendors and chefs, turning editorial recommendations into physical experiences. Markets followed in Brooklyn, Miami, Chicago, and Boston. By 2022, the company planned nine markets across six countries. The U.S. markets were expected to generate $15 million in revenue in 2019, with projections of $55 million in revenue and $11.2 million in EBITDA by 2020. Time Out Group went public on London's AIM stock exchange in June 2016 under ticker TMO. Today, the brand covers over 333 cities in 59 countries, with licensed editions in languages including Mandarin, Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic. [edit]