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1:37 pm, March 10, 2009
MEN Media cuts 150 jobs
Another 150 jobs are going at MEN Media Ltd , publisher of the Manchester Evening News and a string of 22 weekly newspapers in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire.
The company also plans to close all but one of the offices of its weekly titles such as the Wilmslow Express and the Rochdale Observer.
Jenny Lennox, assistant northern organiser of the National Union of Journalists, said staff had been told that profits were down 85 per cent in the current year, which ends this month.
Offices earmarked for closure are in Accrington, Ashton, Macclesfield, Oldham, Rochdale, Rossendale, Salford and Wilmslow.
A total of 78 editorial jobs are going, with production of the weekly papers switched to the MEN offices in Manchester’s Spinningfields district.
Half of the job losses are at the weeklies and the other half at the MEN.
The company employs about 800 people in total, but the cuts announced today mean that about one third of the 230 editorial jobs will be lost. The MEN is cutting 40 out of its 90 journalists.
The Stockport office is being kept open but will be used by advertising and distribution staff.
MEN Media has asked for volunteers for redundancy but said compulsory job cuts would be "unavoidable". It said it had looked at all other options short of job losses but the regional press was facing the worst trading conditions in living memory, with "steeply falling revenues" and the company needed to make substantial cuts to maintain stability.
The company said in a statement: "While we will seek volunteers for redundancy wherever possible, we anticipate that compulsory redundancies will be unavoidable. Those people affected will be offered significantly enhanced severance terms."
In the year to March last year, MEN Media made a pre-tax profit of £13.08m on turnover of £86.1m. During the 12 months it cut its overall headcount by 55 and paid out £1.96m in severance.
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