Production staff at Newsquest’s Newport subbing hub face fresh redundancies

Newsquest warned stuff about a fresh round of redundancies at its subbing hub in Newport, Wales.

Insiders believe up to 20 sub-editing and production staff could be affected this time around. Consultations are set to be held over the coming weeks.

There are currently about 40 production staff in the Newport hub, with a further 20 at a secondary subbing hub in Weymouth.

In August Newsquest announced that fewer than 20 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff would face redundancy across both the Newport and Weymouth offices.

An inside source told Press Gazette at the time that the company was looking to reduce 59 FTEs down to 40.

Newsquest said the move followed investment in a new editorial system in the Wales and Gloucestershire region.

A spokesperson added: “Improvements in the workflow in our newsrooms have reduced the need for as many copy editors in the copy editing hubs, and therefore a consultation has been started about a possible reduction in staff numbers.”

The Newport production hub was established in 2013, moving titles from Worcester where a hub had been set up three years earlier.

Newspapers produced in Newport include paid-for daily The South Wales Argus, paid-for weeklies the Barry & District News, Free Press and the Penarth Times as well as free weekly Campaign.

Newsquest is facing a threat of further strike action from journalists at its south London titles, Press Gazette revealed yesterday.

Topics in this article : Newsquest