In April 2020, The London Economic was taken over by the venture capital firm, Greencastle Capital Limited, who now hold a controlling 51% stake in the outlet.
Criticism
Following their takeover, The London Economic encountered criticism after it emerged that Greencastle Capital Limited's owner, David Sefton, has significant links to the fossil fuel industry. Despite the takeover, The London Economic still advertise their organisation as “free independent journalism” and continue to ask their readers for donations and paid subscriptions.
Political standpoint
Speaking about The London Economic to student magazine Kettle Mag editor-in-chief Jack Peat said that "The was established to counter the fact that the mainstream press is run by a handful of powerful corporations" which he believes often have a strong right-wing bias. He added: "Regardless of their political sway it isn't healthy to have a national media run by just a few people. The advent of the internet and social media has liberated publishing and allowed us to loosen that grasp." The London Economic was generally supportive of Jeremy Corbyn, the last leader of the Labour Party, but has run editorials from anti-Corbyn politicians such as David Blunkett and London Conservative Party councillors. The website took a pro-Remain standpoint on the 2016 EU referendum. It was broadly supportive of Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, signalling a move away from the left wing of the Labour Party.
Notable stories
The London Economic has published a number of stories which have been notable enough to be picked up by mainstream media outlets.
Following the Conservative–DUP agreementThe London Economic published capped expenditure proposals outlined by Health secretaryJeremy Hunt which were claimed to ration NHS services, lengthen waiting times and lead to a "postcode lottery for your healthcare". According to the article leaked by Shadow Health SecretaryJonathan Ashworth to The London Economic NHS managers were instructed to “think the unthinkable” to find savings which could lead to "staff cuts, units shut and treatments rationed or restricted".
Boris Island
Regarding failed plans submitted by Boris Johnson for an airport in the Thames EstuaryThe London Economic uncovered that it cost £3.2 million to submit the proposals even though the project was doomed from the start. The Freedom of Information Request was picked up by national media outlets in print.
Adventure builder
The London Economic had its series of stories on adventure builder Giant Robot Project picked up by mainstream media outlets. They followed Mantzel on his latest project in Panama, where Mantzel had purchased a private island and built a boat nicknamed The Shark Slicer.
Readership
The London Economic proclaimed itself to predominately appeal to an audience of "young professionals predominately based in London". and there are thoughts publications such as TLE may be more in tune with young people voting for the Labour Party than traditional newspapers. During June 2017, The London Economic achieved over 1.5 million page views. Its global Alexa rank rose to under 70,000 during the summer 2017 peak before stabilising down between 100,000 and 140,000 over the next three quarters. By comparison The Canary had a global Alexa rank which peaked at under 20,000 and did not rise above about 80,000 in the same period whilst Novara never achieved below 200,000. By 2020 its readership had grown to over 5 million page views with a global Alexa rank of 87,128.
