The Press Association is to take over the journalism training centre owned by Trinity Mirror in Newcastle, with Trinity Mirror becoming a major long-term customer.

The deal underlines PA Group’s ambitions to become the leading provider of media training.

In 2004 the company acquired a 50 per cent stake in the training and consultancy company, The Editorial Centre, based in Hastings and has established training centres in London and at its base in Howden, East Yorkshire.

Trinity Mirror’s 16-week foundation course in journalism will be merged with The Editorial Centre foundation course.

Under the terms of the deal, the training centre will remain in the offices of the Newcastle Chronicle, Journal and Sunday Sun, and the training centre staff will become employees of PA.

This follows the move of Trinity Mirror’s former head of editorial staff development, Tony Johnston, to PA in the summer.

He became head of editorial training in August, leading the company’s expansion of multimedia training services.

Neil Benson, Trinity Mirror’s editorial director, regionals, said: “We have taken great pride in developing the industry’s leading training centre over the years. This move will provide a platform for further growth, and will also guarantee Trinity Mirror a consistent flow of high-quality trainees.

“PA is a well-respected and trusted operation, and this agreement underlines our ongoing commitment to invest in training for our journalists.”

Tony Johnston said: “I am delighted that we have been able to strike this deal. The Newcastle training centre is a fantastic resource and we are delighted to be able to provide Trinity Mirror with the best journalism training available.”

Peter Sands, director of The Editorial Centre, said: “The foundation courses in Hastings and Newcastle are almost mirror images of each other and it makes enormous sense to pool our resources to provide the best possible training for our customers.”

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