Sir Ray: thanked ‘finest staff’
Tindle Newspapers has seen profits increase by as much in the past 12 months as they did in the previous 14 years.
Chairman Sir Ray Tindle reported at the company’s general meeting this week that his company had had the most profitable year in its history. The 12-month figures to 30 September showed a profit of £7.5m – and the group said it is well on its way to top £8m for the financial year to March 2005.
Sir Ray told the meeting it took from 1974 to 1989 for the company to achieve a profit of £2.5m. It took the next 14 years to increase by a second £2.5m to £5m by 2003. Yet a further £2.5m was added in only 12 months to 30 September this year.
At the meeting, Sir Ray thanked group managing director Brian Doel and “the finest staff any newspapers could possibly have”.
Doel attributed the increase in profits to a mixture of cost savings and revenue-boosting ideas that had seen a 20 per cent increase in turnover in the past 12 months. Among these was Sir Ray’s development plan to launch new monthlies and increase the number of newspaper titles and radio stations in the group to 200 by the end of the year.
Latest titles launched this week include the Pontyclun and Llantrisant Diary in Wales and the Looe and Polperro Independent Trader in Cornwall.
Wendy Craig, assistant to the chairman, told the meeting that the company will have added two new radio stations to the Tindle stable within the current year – Radio Ceredigion and Delta Radio- subject to approval.
By Jon Slattery
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