Express & Star publisher set to axe 76 jobs in major restructuring plan

NEWSPAPER publishing group, Midland News Association, is set for a major restructuring that could see its Express & Star and Shropshire Star titles printed overnight, ending their supremacy as same-day news publications.

The restructuring could also mean the loss of up to 76 jobs – 12 of them in editorial – across both titles, according to the National Union of Journalists.

The union said it was shocked at the announcement and claimed the move was a major blow to regional journalism.

The union said MNA staff had been informed about the impending restructure in a letter from Claverley Group chief executive, Phil Inman.

It said the letter claimed both newspapers had “strong futures” but the group had to consider new ways of operating to reflect the changes in the way readers accessed the news.

The letter said this meant strengthening the group’s digital operation through “significant investment”, however, it warned that the changes could result in 76 potential redundancies. It is hoping these can be achieved voluntarily but it has not ruled out compulsory redundancies.

Inman also warned that if the company stood still then for the first time in the MNA’s history it ran the risk of “becoming irrelevant to the way people live their lives”.

The union said the plans to move to overnight publication would mean changes to working hours and shift patterns for both editorial teams with production staff potentially moving to “continental style shifts”.

A 45-day consultation period on the company’s proposals has now been implemented.

Chris Morley, Northern and Midlands organiser for the NUJ, said: “There is great shock at the timing of this announcement, although our members had been fearful something like this was not far away. This is a huge blow, not just in the numbers of people who may lose their jobs but also to quality journalism.

“The two daily papers in Wolverhampton and Shropshire have been the lonely standard bearers for same-day regional newspaper news and sport and had been very successful in that over many years. But repeated deep cuts to editorial numbers have critically weakened what they have been able to offer readers by badly overstretching staff.”

The union has called on the company to open talks to find a sustainable way forward.

“This must be done in a way staff are reassured that directors will not take the discredited path to a cycle of cuts to the core business and then more cuts that drives away still yet more readers and advertisers,” he added.

“Any change from same-day publication will require major changes to the way staff work. If the proposals are to be implemented, to work they need to be with the agreement of staff – not by the company putting a gun to employees’ heads.”