Northcliffe Media is to move the editorial operation of the Western Daily Press back to Bristol – just 18 months after it was moved 150 miles away to Plymouth.
Staff of the morning title, whose circulation area is largely based around Bristol, Somerset and South Gloucestershire, were relocated to Plymouth last year in a partial merger with the Western Morning News.
But the new publisher of Northcliffe’s Bristol centre, Alan Renwick, is to reverse the move in a bid to bring the WDP’s editorial and commercial functions back under one roof.
It is understood the move will result in some job losses among the 50 dedicated editorial staff of the title.
Alan told HTFP that geography along with a desire to bring together the paper’s whole publishing operation was the main impetus for the change.
“It’s not a city paper in the way that the Bristol Evening Post is but if you were to draw a map of the WDP area it would be a horseshoe around Bristol,” he said.
He also acknowledged the need for the WDP to develop its own identity separate from its Devon and Cornwall sister title.
“The Western Daily Press has got a very focused readership and we want to build on that,” he added.
A formal consultation period has begun with Western Daily Press staff based in Plymouth and this process is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
The original decision to relocate editorial operations to Plymouth resulted in arond 30 redundancies.
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This is just bonkers beyond belief!
What I want to know is who thought it was a good plan to move what is essentially a Bristol paper 150 miles away…
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It’s not a city paper in the way that the Bristol Evening Post is but if you were to draw a map of the WDP area it would be a horseshoe around Bristol,”
Always was, nothing new here but clearly the new Publisher’s consultancy back ground has mad him a master in dressing up the bleeding obvious as strategic insight.
Still correct outcome though
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Was the WDP the only paper in history which oeprated outside of its circulation area?
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The person whose ridiculous idea it was to move Western Daily Press staff 150 miles away to Plymouth should be fired. Having said that, both the WDP and the Western Morning News appear to be in denial about their vastly reduced statuses. I understand they still have dedicated night news editors which, considering their plunging circulations, seems a luxury in these straitened times.
50 editorial staff? Try about five….
And Subbo, why pick on night news editors?
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If you had to think of a strategy to waste money, demotivate staff and lose credibility in management’s ability, it would be hard to think of a better way to do it than Northcliffe’s constant chopping, changing and reversing decisions. The only good thing about this latest U-turn is that it does reverse the previous lunatic decision to locate Western Daily Press staff 150 miles away.
PS – I can’t comment on current staff numbers at the WDP, but the Exeter Express & Echo had about 50 in editorial only a few years ago when it was still a daily and before it started downsizing.
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Hands up all those staff members who either bought or signed contracts to rent properties in Plymouth when this ridiculous move was first announced. Feel for everyone affected.
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“The person whose ridiculous idea it was to move Western Daily Press staff 150 miles away to Plymouth should be fired.”
He was.
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“The person whose ridiculous idea it was to move Western Daily Press staff 150 miles away to Plymouth should be fired.”
“He was”.
Was he really?
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Subbo sounds like someone with a personal gripe about particular members of staff. The night news editors upset you did they Subbo?
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News desk types tend to do that EDC, implied in the job description. They tend to be dedicated as well, as Subbo pointed out.
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