The ''Sunday Independent'' was a well respected newspaper formerly based in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, then in

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

, and finally in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. It was published on Sundays throughout

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. The paper was founded in 1808 and had a circulation of 7,261 in 2003 (last registered figures with the

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

). The newspaper has a convoluted history which has been well documented during its declining years due to several legal disputes involving ex-staff. Ownership of the paper changed from Newsquest to

Tindle Newspaper Group The Tindle Group is a British multimedia company operating regional newspapers and radio stations across the British Isles. It publishes over 200 local newspapers in the UK, a number of which are over 100 years old. The company is based in F ...

in 2004. In 2014, Tindle Newspapers sold a majority stake of the ownership to retiring Tindle managing director Brian Doel. On 5 April 2017, it was announced that the paper was to cease publication after 209 years. Thirteen days later it was then announced that businessman Peter Masters, who at that time was owner of Truro City F.C. and a local caravan park, had purchased the ''Sunday Independent''. Its first edition under this new ownership was run on Sunday 23 April 2017, at the increased price of £1.20. Masters then pledged to expand a portfolio of additional newspapers across the South West. However, a few short months later, in January 2018, much to the dismay of his staff, Peter Masters suddenly sold the Sunday Independent Limited, which had employed them, to Plymouth born newspaper executive

Duncan Williams Duncan Williams (born 17 April 1986) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half and represents Cork Constitution in the All-Ireland League. Munster Williams made his Munster debut against Connacht in December 2009. He made his ...

for an alleged sum of £1. The transaction has since come under intense scrutiny from journalists of the Sunday Independent Limited, who say that

TUPE The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 known colloquially as TUPE and pronounced , are the United Kingdom's implementation of the European Union Transfer of Undertakings Directive. It is an important part of UK la ...

laws were breached in the process. Following a lengthy employment tribunal case, involving these 29 ex-journalists, and applications to the High Court to appeal the TUPE transfer liability being shouldered personally by Directors of the Sunday Independent Limited, the ''Sunday Independent'' newspaper dropped the pre-fix ''Sunday'' and presented itself for a period of months as two simplified rebranded editions calling themselves ''South West Independent'' and ''Cornwall Independent,'' with the cover price increased once again to £2.00 per unit copy. During this period the newspaper's reputation, readership figures and advertising revenue had all started to decline. In January 2022 it was announced in ''Press Gazette'' that these Peter Masters owned variants of the ''Sunday Independent'' were all to close indefinitely.

References

1808 establishments in England Newspapers published in Cornwall Newspapers published in Devon Newspapers established in 1808 {{England-newspaper-stub