The Nottingham Post, formerly known as the Nottingham Evening Post, is a tabloid newspaper that provides the latest news, sports and events from Nottingham and the surrounding areas of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. 

When looking at the Nottingham Evening Post history it’s particularly fascinating, since the newspaper is now known as the Nottingham Post and has undergone a lot of change throughout the years. You can find original copies of the newspaper by browsing our Nottingham Evening Post archives, letting you choose a back issue from the date of your choice.

Early History of the Nottingham Evening Post

The history of the Nottingham Evening Post dates back to May 1st 1878 when the newspaper was first founded. Thomas Forman, a spirited businessman from Lincolnshire, introduced Nottingham’s first evening newspaper from an experienced background of printing and editing newspapers. The newspaper had only 4 pages and cost a halfpenny, and was Nottingham’s first evening newspaper.

Forman had previously published the Conservative Nottingham Daily Guardian which was established in 1861, and the printing business had grown to a reasonable size by the 1870s. The newspaper company was very much a family business, with Forman’s sons all involved and his son Jesse becoming the first editor of the Evening Post. 

Forman’s family remained part of the newspaper well into the twentieth century, and the size of the newspaper had increased to 6 pages by 1902. By 1914, the front page of the newspaper began to show the latest news events, rather than advertisements. 

T. Bailey Forman and Move to Colour Tabloid

In 1953, the Nottingham Evening Post was bought by T. Bailey Forman Ltd., along with the Nottingham Journal. 10 years after purchasing the two newspapers, the Nottingham Evening Post merged with its competitor, the Nottingham Post, to form one publication. March 1996 saw the first issue be printed as a full-colour tabloid.

The newspaper was based on Forman Street in Nottingham city centre until 1998, when it was moved to Castle Wharf House. In October 2011, printing of the newspaper was relocated from Derby to Birmingham. 

nottingham evening post

Nottingham Evening Post front page

Current Ownership

Currently, the Nottingham Post is owned by the company Reach PLC, a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. In 2012, Local World, which is owned by Reach PLC, obtained the newspaper’s wonder Northcliffe Media from Daily Mail and General Trust. 

nottingham evening post

Nottingham Evening Post front page, Tuesday, May 8, 1945

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Features of the Nottingham Post 

The Nottingham Post used to publish various smaller publications alongside the main newspaper. It previously printed a weekly sports paper during the football season, which included coverage of Nottingham Forest and Notts County – Nottingham’s two football league clubs. It also reported on non-league football, and other sports such as cricket, ice hockey and rugby union. 

Forest Fever was another side publication, which was a more in-depth report of Nottingham Forest Football Club in a newspaper-style magazine. The monthly Bygones paper is no longer published separately and deals with stories about the history of Nottingham.

Interestingly, the Nottingham Post sometimes includes special features that deal with certain aspects of Nottingham life. An example of this was the 2007 special entitled ‘Muslims in Nottingham’ which reported on the life of Nottingham’s Muslim community. The feature was made up of interviews and articles in the printed publication and on the website. It gave members of the community a space to reveal their thoughts on life in the city. 

The newspaper is published every day apart from Sunday and can also be read through an online subscription.

Political Stance 

Thomas Forman, the newspaper’s founder, established the newspaper’s independence when he claimed the Nottingham Evening Post would be “the exclusive organ of no religious or political party.” On their website currently, the newspaper claims “The Post is politically independent and supports no political party during elections.”

Nottingham Post Circulation Figures

Date Circulation
2009 55.507
2011 35,361
Jan to June 2019 10,890
Jan to June 2020 9,719

Back in 2011, the Nottingham Post and the Yorkshire Post were reported to be the biggest fallers in terms of circulation figures. Since 2011, the circulation figures have followed a national trend of falling circulation figures in the 2010s, with the rise of the Internet causing more people to read their news online rather than by print. 

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