One of the most senior executives in regional publishing group Newsquest is set to retire after 40 years in the industry.
Tim Blott, pictured left, managing director of Newsquest Scotland, will step down at the end of the year.
He is set to be replaced in the role by Graham Morrison, who is currently managing director of Newsquest Clyde & Forth.
Graham had previously served as group MD of the Romanes Media Group, until it was bought out by Newsquest earlier this year.
Tim first joined what is now Newsquest as a trainee reporter in 1975 and was editor of the Bucks Free Press and then the Oxford Mail before moving into management.
Since 2003 he has been regional managing director for Newsquest’s Scottish division, overseeing titles including The Herald, Glasgow Evening Times and The National.
The announcement of Tim’s forthcoming retirement was made in an internal memo to staff attributed to Newsquest chief executive Henry Faure Walker, which has been seen by HTFP.
It reads: “Tim Blott, managing director of Newsquest Scotland, is retiring at the end of they year after 40 years’ service in the newspaper industry.
“Tim will be succeeded by Graham Morrison, currently managing director of Newsquest Clyde & Forth and previously group managing director of the Romanes Media Group.
“I would like to thank Tim for the great contribution he has made to Newsquest and to the wider industry over many years, and I look forward to Graham continuing to build on the success we have achieved in Scotland as the country’s leading news publishing business, both in print and online.”
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Tim should write a book about the changes he’s seen since 1975 and how he views them – that’d be an enlightening read. An impressive career, sir, and enjoy whatever comes next. Shame you obviously didn’t have the time to comment on your decision here.
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Newspaper man replaced by an accountant. Good luck guys.
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In an era which has seem the majority of MD’s spend more time with accountants and spreadsheets and less time with those who influence the businesses they run. Tim has widely regarded as one of the good guys, best of luck in your retirement.
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The regional press has lost a significant figure with the departure of Tim Blott. One of the best people in the business, great to work with and for and highly respected by everyone who knows him. While no pushover by any means, he was always fair and spent time out in the business rather than being locked in an office. Best of luck for a long and happy retirement.
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Another journo gone, one more bean counter added
Sign of the times and a clue to the decline in quality across the regionals
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Having worked with Tim for a few years, I can say Newsquest will deeply miss a great asset. I wish Graham all the best, but he has some big shoes to fill and the way things are going at the moment a lot to take on!
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I had the very good fortune to secure Tim’s services as my deputy when we launched the Luton Leader on behalf of Westminster Press in 1979. We went our separate ways, but stayed good friends. We had a good chuckle about our crazy days in Luton at his 60th birthday recently. He is an excellent newspaperman with a love of newsprint and a clever knack of making online journalism pay. Tim, enjoy whatever comes next.
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I have to say that while Tim Blott might have been a great journalist the amount of cuts that have taken place at Herald and Times have been shocking. While it was a Newsquest decision, staff at these titles have faced cuts, at Christmas, every year. And it was all while Tim Blott was in charge. Just look at how poor both these titles are now. While I am certainly not a supporter of Graham, it should be pointed out that the accountant never made any major redundancies while it was c&f. He seems loyal to staff who work hard and who are not yes people. He has backbone and he’ll need it! Good luck to Graham.
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Enjoy your retirement, Tim. Well deserved after such excellent service to the industry – including those early WP days of the seventies when I got to know you!
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