DOES Tony Elliott love Time Out too much? The entrepreneur has owned the weekly listings magazine since setting it up while still a student in 1968. Every time he has planned to sell a stake in the business he has changed his mind.

However, choosing not to take cash from outsiders has meant that expanding Time Out’s business overseas has been painfully slow. Although the magazine’s brand is licensed around the world, the direct interests of Tony Elliott’s Time Out Group are small.

His company has turned over about £20 million annually for the past five years, making losses one year and profits the next. Outside London, Time Out Group owns only a 45 per cent share in the New York edition and half of a Chicago publication, which will be launched early next year.

Yet, as recently as last month, Elliott was in talks to sell 30 per cent of the business. “My equity is not doing anything, and in a perfect world it would make sense to bring in a financial partner to take 15 to 30 per cent,” says the Time Out owner in his seventh floor, West End office.

The problem is that financial investors want a path to control or an exit, and Elliott is not interested in getting out — which is why the discussions about the sale of a stake failed. “They wanted to put in performance trigger points, which meant if we didn’t meet the target they would rapidly have gone over 50 per cent and then you’ve lost the company.”

Tony Elliott won’t say who he was negotiating with, although the deal size would not have been large. He says the company is worth “in excess of £30 million” of which the magazine brand is the most important element. But for now, selling a stake is off the agenda.

“I’m seriously enjoying myself. We are constantly in a mode of expansion here and I see myself as a long-term builder. What I’d like is Time Out, as a thing, to remain independent indefinitely. I think the readers respect the independence of the magazines.”

It is hard to see Elliott handing over the reins. His office, which has a view of the British Museum, betrays active involvement. It is filled with piles of Time Out magazines.

As chairman, Elliott is hands on, approving key appointments, and working between 10am and 7pm during the week. He freely admits to having had to fire editors in the past — there have been 12 in the Time Out chair in 36 years.

The flagship London title remains in good health, despite competition from newspaper listings supplements. Weekly circulation, at just over 88,000, is stable, although critics say that the title could be run more profitably. Now, Time Out London wants to sell internet services, the first of which is a special film site.

Internationally, Elliott will seek local partners to help to stump up cash to expand. The Chicago Time Out is a 50-50 joint venture with Joe Mansueto, the founder and chairman of Morningstar, an investment research group. Each side is putting up $4 million (£2.2 million). “After that, we’d like to go to LA and San Francisco, which will cost $15 to $17 million, and after that we will end up doing Toronto,” Elliott says.

Development must be gradual. “Say we did have £10 million of liquidity, and a three to four-year expansion plan. There’s a great danger that we would grow too quickly, and that it would spiral out of control.”

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