Bella - The UK's number one performing magazine

H Bauer's Bella has posted an ABC of 224,013 a period on period increase of 16.9% and a 1.1% increase year on year. Bella is the UK's number one performing magazine in the latest round of ABCs and is the only traditional woman's weekly magazine to show growth both period and period and year on year. The growth reflects readers' positive reactions to the changes made at the beginning of 2008 when a new editorial direction was brought to the magazine. See full release.

Early in 2008 Bella's execution was redeveloped and the magazine returned to its true positioning of a modern classic women's weekly magazine, the publisher believes this has broadened the appeal of the magazine to this audience. Helen Lowe, Publisher says "Bella has stuck to its core values by providing entertainment through true life features, celebrity gossip, style and service elements, albeit packaged in a way which is appealing to a younger audience. Bella provides the 30 something/life stage woman with somewhere to go when they have outgrown the core celebrity titles."

This latest ABC figure puts Bella back in direct competition with the 3 other classic weekly titles, Best, Woman and Woman's Own, which it fell away from in 2007.

Compared to the celebrity and true-life markets, the classic market has outperformed the rest of the women's weeklies sector, with only a 0.8% drop pop for the sector overall, this is of course in part due to the increase in sales from Bella magazine. However Lowe believes that this stability also portrays a regained confidence in the classic market.

For Bella magazine, 2009 will continue with the objective of being the best written, most entertaining and best value for money of the classic women's weekly set.