More jobs look set to go at the Manchester Evening News and its sister weeklies, after "a wide-ranging series of reviews" was announced at MEN Media.

Voluntary redundancies are being sought in response to a fall in advertising revenues and the migration of advertising from print to digital.

Staff at the company were told the news at a series of meetings yesterday and today, and have until May 8 to register their interest for redundancy.

Compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out.

A company-wide pay award of 2.5 per cent has also been announced.

An internal review of the strategy and structure of all the Manchester businesses, including the MEN, more than 20 weeklies and its digital operations, has now begun.

No date has been given for when this will be concluded, but the company has said it will be "swift".

Chief executive Mark Dodson said: "The past two years have seen the rate and pace of change in our industry accelerate beyond all predictions.

"As a company with a large proportion of its revenues linked to print businesses, we need to increase our rate of change to meet the digital present as well as the digital future.

"This will mean that we will be best placed to face the demands of an increasingly competitive marketplace."

He said that in order to get maximum benefit from the reviews, the company needed to establish how many staff wished to take voluntary severance.

It is understood that the company has seen advertising profits fall, with recruitment advertising volumes down by 23 per cent in the past year.

The company is also predicting further falls in the next two years and says the reviews are necessary to get the business into shape for the tough trading.

It has, however, seen revenue growth in its digital businesses.

It follows a previous round of redundancies at the company last year, which saw 30 editorial jobs lost at the MEN and more than 200 from all departments across the business.