NUJ calls for investment, not cuts following publication of Reach full year figures
The NUJ has warned that Reach could be becoming “addicted to redundancies” as it urged the company to refrain from seeking further cuts following the announcement of increased profits today.
The national publisher of titles across the UK and Ireland - including The Mirror, Express, The Evening Post, Irish Star, Liverpool Echo, and Manchester Evening News - published its full year figures today, recording a 2.4 per cent increase to £104.7m in its operating profits.
While print revenue declined 4.6 per cent, the sector still made up nearly three quarters of Reach’s overall revenues - around three times more than digital revenues.
And yet, the publisher is continuing with its plans to close two of its three UK newspaper printing sites in Saltire and Watford as part of a ‘cost saving drive’.
Piers North, Reach chief executive, said: “We are pleased to have increased our adjusted operating profit to £104.7m, driven by decisive action on costs as we move forward with a leaner and more strategic structure. In a year marked by disruption in the search and referral landscape, we have demonstrated our resilience with a strong financial performance."
The NUJ has called for this ‘strong financial performance’ to be reflected in a pay award that recognises the value of its skilled, dedicated journalists.
The NUJ Reach group chapel said:
“Today’s figures from the company show again that it is a very profitable company, albeit with continuing declining revenues and still substantial historical commitments such as near £60m in pension fund deficit payments this year and next.
“However, NUJ members will be concerned that after a painful and tough restructuring of editorial structures last year - with hundreds of journalists losing their jobs - that the company has announced today that it is seeking even greater cuts in 2026.
“Senior management overshot their projected cost cuts last year to take out £23m savings from the business. But they have made it clear that this year’s target could be bigger with a 5-6% reduction in operating costs only ‘partially’ offset by the closures announced last month of two of the remaining print sites Reach plc has.
“We will be closely monitoring what this will mean for our members who have performed heroic feats to keep the business going in the face of constant shocks and trauma from the big tech platforms changing their algorithms on a whim.
“Reach is in danger of becoming addicted to redundancies and some time soon, cuts must turn into lasting investment and positive, organic growth that the business has control over – and not the tech bros in Silicon Valley.
“We welcome the drive into digital subscriptions but for this to work there needs to be investment in quality journalism and plentiful unique content.
“It was pleasing that chief executive Piers North acknowledged that the complexity of his journalists’ jobs but the value of their work should be reflected in pay that restores the corrosion of years of sub-inflation increases.”