More jobs are being axed as the recession bites, with cost-cutting at two of Britain’s leading B2B magazine publishers, Reed and the Informa Group.
At Reed, five job losses have hit the road haulage sector, motoring titles Commercial Motor and Motor Transport. The threat of redundancies at Informa affects four journalists on Lloyd’s List and the editor of Lloyd’s Shipping Economist.
The Reed cuts involve some long-serving members of staff and include the posts of a news editor, features editor, executive editor and a photographer. A spokesman blamed the move on difficult trading conditions in the marketplace. He said Reed would try to find jobs for the staff and that no more redundancies in the transport group were planned.
Related
Leigh Smith, director of maritime publishing at Informa, said the cuts were a result of rising editorial costs. Informa has also reduced the frequency of Lloyd’s List by suspending publication of the Saturday edition. "We are suffering an industry recession like any other publisher and we were looking to reduce our costs," Smith told Press Gazette.
He said there were plans to restructure the subs’ desk on Lloyd’s List and the title could end up losing two subs as well as a senior reporter and graphic designer.
Lloyd’s Shipping Economist is also expected to undergo a restructure. Smith said: "A lot of publishers are feeling the squeeze – everywhere from national newspapers to trade publishers." The cuts are believed to be part of the redundancies announced throughout the group a few months ago. But one journalist said: "It has been rather sprung on us. Things are already very tight. Some titles are run on just one or two people and nobody believed further cuts were possible."
Content from our partners
Smith could not guarantee there would not be any further redundancies, but he said there were none planned for the immediate future.
Informa chiefs held emergency talks with the NUJ this week to discuss the option of voluntary redundancies and staff are currently in a process of consultation.
An NUJ representative said: "The five people involved are all highly skilled staff who have been crucial to the success of the paper in recent years. The chapel believes the management has failed to make a case for redundancies, given the fact the titles made a profit in the first half of the year."
By Ruth Addicott
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
