The Derby Trader was the UK’s first free newspaper, founded in 1966 by Lionel Pickering and Tony Mather, who became its first editor.[1] It was originally part of Pickering’s Trader Group, which was bought by Thomson in 1989. Ownership subsequently passed to Midland Independent Newspapers[2] and then to Trinity Mirror, who announced the closure of the by then loss-making newspaper in 2008.[3]
