The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Online continue to lead rival quality national media as the top business-read destinations, according to the latest results from the British Business Survey (BBS), revealed today (3 September).

Overall, the three brands (The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Online) have a combined reach of 42% of all business people in the UK – more than double that of the FT and FT.com.

• The Times is the number one daily quality paper for business readers in the UK. It reaches 330,000 business readers - an 84 per cent lead against the Financial Times and a 92 per cent lead against the Guardian. It also claims 83,000 C-Suite readers (top level business leaders)– 38 per cent more than the FT – and is also the number one daily title for board directors.

• The Sunday Times demonstrated equally impressive results. As the number one title for business with one in three people reading the Sunday Times – it has 453,000 business readers - an overall lead over the Sunday Telegraph of 284,000. It also attracts 107,000 more business readers than the Observer, Independent on Sunday and Sunday Telegraph combined. It is the number one title for board directors and has twice as many C-Suite readers than the FT. On the financial responsibility score, Sunday Times readers are accountable for 41p in every business £1 spent in the UK.

• Digital results revealed more impressive growth with the Times Online (www.timesonline.co.uk) now the number one quality newspaper site for reaching business decision makers - 61% more business people are reading the digital newspaper than in 2005. Times Online now reaches 269,000 people versus FT.com’s 199,000 – representing a 35 per cent lead. It also attracts 193,000 business decision makers compared to the FT’s 141,000.

Paul Hayes, Managing Director of NI’s commercial division, commented: “The key finding is that the Times group reaches 42% of all business people in the UK – more than double that of the FT and FT.com. Overall our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our ongoing investment and are a testament to the quality of the editorial. We continue to develop globally respected brands to bring the UK business community to the brand advertiser’s doorstep.”

The British Business Survey (BBS) is widely recognised as the leading source of market and media insight into British business men and women, from both a consumer and a business-to-business perspective.

It represents a universe of approximately 1.55 million social grade AB individuals of professional and management status, whose occupation implies significant business responsibilities.

It provides a wealth of data that can be used for precise targeting of specific groups of business people: company details, job function, decision-making responsibility, business travel, usage along with technology owned, car ownership, etc.