Picture: Tony Elliott, photographed in 1970 by Jeremy Beadle and 2018 by Andy Parsons

Time Out magazine recently celebrated its 50th anniversary after being founded by former Keele student Tony Elliot in 1968.

Tony studied economics, French and history at Keele University in the 1960s, and became editor of the Keele magazine Unit, turning it into a contemporary-arts magazine. Tony founded Time Out in 1968 during his summer vacation from Keele - and asked the University if he could come back if it didn’t work out!

Keele welcomed Tony back 45 years later, awarding him an honorary degree for his success in the publishing industry. Time Out went on to become a global media and entertainment business and is now available in over 40 cities worldwide with a readership of 7.4million. Time Out Group plc has since opened its first Time Out Market in Lisbon housing the city’s best restaurants, bars and cultural experiences, and plans to open more worldwide over the next few years.

Celebrating Time Out’s 50th anniversary, Tony said: “I started Time Out in 1968 because it was hard to find out where to go and decide what to do in London: there was not one single place to find the information. So I effectively created a publication for myself. What we published was a package: it wasn’t just arts and culture and it wasn’t just politics, and that was one of the reasons people responded so well to it. We covered what didn’t appear in the mainstream press.

“Today, Time Out’s mission is the same as it was in 1968: to be the go-to source for information on the very best of the city – independent and trusted, with a distinctive attitude and spirit. Fifty years on, I am immensely proud of Time Out’s strong brand heritage, of everyone who contributes to help people explore the fantastic cities we are in, and of the team that recently has successfully transformed and diversified the brand.”