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Trinity Mirror to axe hundreds of jobs
Trinity Mirror is to cut hundreds of jobs as part of a long awaited shake-up designed to insulate the group against the pressure on its circulation and advertising revenues.
Hundreds of the 12,000-strong workforce are set to go from the advertising, administration and distribution wings of the company in an attempt to streamline the group's operations although it is not clear which parts will bear the brunt of the cull.
Drastic changes at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, People and the regional division of the company have been expected ever since Sly Bailey was appointed chief executive earlier this year.
She is due to present the results of her strategic review next week and there has been speculation she will either demerge the regional papers from the nationals or sell the People.
However, it seems this may not now be the preferred option.
The only papers that may be put up for disposal are Trinity's Northern Irish titles, part of its 260-strong regional stable.
At the end of last month Trinity said there was no sign of a recovery in the advertising market after a "volatile" start to the year.
First-half advertising revenues at the group are unlikely to show any improvement on last year.
The circulation of Trinity's leading papers has been a cause for concern, with the Daily Mirror falling below the psychologically important 2 million mark in March and the Sunday Mirror, People and Daily Record all losing readers.
The company was damaged by the Mirror's price war with the Sun and has admitted its decision to return the Mirror to its 32p cover price in March affected sales.
However, a £32m cost-reduction drive is expected to yield another £10m of savings by the end of the year, excluding the effects of the planned job cuts.
The results of the strategic review will be a key test for Ms Bailey, the former head of magazine publisher IPC.
Since joining Trinity she has overseen a major shake-up of boardroom personnel, hiring the likes of former Sun marketing guru Ellis Watson and McKinsey partner Humphrey Cobbold.
A spokesman for Trinity said he had "no comment" to make about possible job losses.
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