The Times and The Sunday Times today celebrate reaching over 350,000 subscribers to their print and digital bundles.

An ambitious strategy to grow both print and digital subscriptions over the last three years has delivered a net growth in digital subscribers, more than 150,000 across all platforms.

The total number of print subscribers has grown by more than 50,000 in the same period since July 2010. The total number of print subscribers now stands at 200,000.

On The Times, digital subscribers now contribute over 25% of total paid sales and, together, total digital and print subscriptions now make up half the volume of total sales for the title.

Mike Darcey, Chief Executive Officer of News UK, commented: “The Times and Sunday Times pioneered digital subscriptions and today we can see a solid customer base across every platform, including print. Customers are clearly happy to pay for world-class news, sport, comment and analysis, and have welcomed a string of enhancements, new apps and the exclusive access to Premier League Goals this autumn. Charging for our journalism allows us to invest in our journalism, creating an even better experience for our readers and helping to secure a sustainable future for our titles.”

Market-leading features such as the Times+ membership and rewards programme - the first newspaper loyalty programme in the UK – have played an important role in attracting and retaining customers.

The 7-day digital subscription increased from £2 a week at launch in July 2010 to £4 a week in March 2012. Innovative offers to subscribers include the first-ever UK newspaper tablet bundle deal, offered in November 2012 and the exclusive Premier League Goals offer to Times and Sunday Times readers that launched on 1 August 2013.

Investment has also been made into the print edition of each paper which has seen print subscriptions grow by 50,000 since July 2010 when paid-for content was introduced.

To meet customer needs better and respond to their reading habits, a more flexible print subscriptions service was offered from July 2011 which helped to grow the print subscriber base. Changes included offering a print subscription for weekdays only at £5; a Sunday only print option at £2 and a combined print and digital option at £8. The growth in print subscriptions benefits news retailers by offering a guaranteed print sale via a retailer.