The amount of Government cash claimed by the news media industry through the Covid-19 furlough scheme roughly halved in April compared to the month before.
In April regional, broadcast, digital and B2B media companies claimed somewhere between £230,012.31 and £810,000 (the Government publishes the amounts claimed only in banded ranges).
One of the biggest claimants, JPI Media, stopped using the scheme altogether from 1 April after receiving between £100,001 and £250,000 per month since December (when the Government started publishing the data).
The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post publisher previously revealed in its company accounts it received £3.5m in furlough in 2020.
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The news media industry claimed:
- between £515,018.27 and £1.515m in March
- between £765,018.26 and £1.9m in February
- between £535,018.25 and £1.525m in January
- between £390,000 and £1.18m in December.
This brings the total bill for the industry from December to April to between £2.4m and £6.9m.
The scheme, under which the Government pays 80% of an employee’s wages for hours they do not work while on furlough, is due to end on 30 September. Companies were forced to start picking up 10% of the bill from 1 July.
Think tank The Resolution Foundation has called for a slower withdrawal of the scheme, fearing its end could help contribute to a return to levels of unemployment not seen since the 1990s.
JPI Media was the only publisher in our list to stop claiming in April (Tindle Newspapers Ltd also did, but Tindle continued to claim under some of its other entities).
Archant, the fourth biggest regional publisher behind Reach, Newsquest and JPI, reduced its claim to its lowest since December, making its Government grant somewhere between £50,001 and £100,000.
Southwark Newspapers reduced its claim from between £10,001 and £25,000 to between £0.01 to £10,000. It has been fluctuating between the two brackets since December.
In broadcast, Bauer Radio reduced its claim from the £50,001 to £100,000 bracket where it had been since December to between £10,001 and £25,000. Bauer Media Audio and Global Radio both reduced their claims to the £0.01 to £10,000 band (from £10,001-£25,000 to £25,001-£50,000 respectively).
The rest of the news media companies listed below kept their claims level between March and April.
See below for a full list of UK media companies that used the job retention scheme in April, ranked by their latest claims and with claim totals given in £.
Regional press
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| ARCHANT COMMUNITY MEDIA LTD | 50,001 to 100,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 250,001 to 500,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 |
| MIDLAND NEWS ASSOCIATION LTD | 50,001 to 100,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 |
| NEWSQUEST MEDIA GROUP LTD | 25,001 to 50,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 |
| TINDLE DEVON NEWSPAPERS LTD | 10,001 to 25,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| KM MEDIA GROUP LIMITED | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| CITY A.M. LTD | 25,001 to 50,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| BAYLIS MEDIA LTD | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| HIGHLAND NEWS AND MEDIA LIMI TED | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| ILIFFE MEDIA PUBLISHING LIMI TED | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| IRISH NEWS LTD | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| SOUTHWARK NEWSPAPER LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| ILIFFE MEDIA LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| ILIFFE MEDIA GROUP LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| TINDLE NEWSPAPERS WALES AND THE BORDERS LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| TINDLE NEWSPAPERS SURREY & H AMPSHIRE LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA LTD | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| NEW MILTON NEWS AND MEDIA LT D | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| GAZETTE NEWSPAPER GROUP LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| HOLDERNESS NEWSPAPERS LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| POST NEWSPAPERS LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| STRATFORD NEWS AND MEDIA LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| JPIMEDIA PUBLISHING LIMITED | 100,001 to 250,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 100,001 to 250,000 | 0 |
| TINDLE NEWSPAPERS LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0 |
Broadcast
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| BAUER RADIO LTD | 50,001 to 100,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 |
| GLOBAL MEDIA GROUP SERVICES LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| BAUER MEDIA AUDIO LIMITED | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | |
| INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NEWS LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
Digital media
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| TORTOISE MEDIA LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | |
| VICE UK LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
Magazines
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| TIME OUT ENGLAND LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 50,001 to 100,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 | 25,001 to 50,000 |
| THE CONDE NAST PUBLICATIONS LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| THE CHELSEA MAGAZINE COMPANY LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| TIME OUT | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| THE ECONOMIST NEWSPAPER LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY BRISTOL LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY LONDON LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| POSITIVE NEWS PUBLISHING LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
B2B media
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| WILLIAM REED BUSINESS MEDIA LTD | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 10,001 to 25,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| INCISIVE BUSINESS MEDIA LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
Specialist news
| Company | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 |
| FRANCE MEDIA LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| HABER WEEKLY NEWSPAPER LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| HAMODIA NEWSPAPER LTD | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| THE JEWISH TELEGRAPH LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
| THE STAGE MEDIA COMPANY LIMITED | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 | 0.01 to 10,000 |
Before December HMRC was legally unable to name companies who had received furlough payments because of taxpayer confidentiality rules under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
It is now required to name on a monthly basis the employers who have claimed cash, and how much within various banded ranges, due to a Treasury direction made under the Coronavirus Act 2020 in November when the furlough scheme was extended.
Picture: Shutterstock
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