More London press closures as Tindle axes three north London weeklies with loss of six editorial staff

Tindle is closing three weekly newspaper titles in north London this week with the loss of six editorial jobs.

Titles closing are the Enfield Advertiser & Gazette, the Haringey Advertiser and the Barnet Press. The Advertisers published their last editions today, with the final Press due out tomorrow.

The move comes a week after former Tindle titles in west London, now owned by Capital Media Newspapers, went into administration. These include the Kensington and Chelsea News, Fulham Chronicle, Hammersmith Chronicle and Shepherd’s Bush Chronicle.

Staff were told of the latest closures on Friday last week and are set to be out of their jobs by this Friday, Press Gazette understands.

A total of 16 employees are understood to be facing redundancy, including a news editor, sports editor, sub-editor, trainee reporter, senior reporter and photographer on the editorial team. Consultations are ongoing.

Group editor Mick Ferris, who also edits the Yellow Advertiser, is understood to be staying on.

An inside source told Press Gazette the announcement was a “bombshell” that had come as a “shock”, but that it had also felt “inevitable”.

“The paper has been losing money for quite some time – and substantial amounts of money,” they said, but added: “It does seem unduly rushed the way they have done this.”

The closures will leave the London boroughs of Enfield, Barnet and Haringey with reduced local newspaper coverage. Newsquest continues to publish the Enfield Independent and Barnet Times.

Both the Enfield Advertiser & Gazette and Barnet Press are papers with more than one hundred years of publishing history.

All three titles operate a “combined” or “hybrid” model, meaning some copies are paid for and some distributed for free.

The closures come one week after Tindle Newspapers founder Sir Ray Tindle handed over control of the 70-year-old group to his son Owen.

Laura Davison, NUJ national organiser, said: “This is shocking news for the local communities served by these papers and awful for the talented and dedicated journalists who have represented them.”

Press Gazette has contacted Tindle for comment.

Topics in this article : Tindle Newspapers