Staff at a regional newspaper publisher will receive a welcome Christmas bonus after the company announced it was on track to hit its 2009 targets.

In a message to staff, Archant chief executive Adrian Jeakings said that, despite the group not being “spared the ravages of the recession”, all staff would get a £200 bonus next month.

“I am delighted to be able to tell you that we are on track to hit the targets that we set at the beginning of the year, before the full scale of the downturn had become apparent,” he told staff.

“I am proud that we have managed to get through the worst recession for 80 years whilst accelerating our development activities, in anticipation of the recovery.

“I have been particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and creativity that has been shown by the many people that I have met.

“The new ideas, whether they come from editorial, distribution, sales, or one of our back office teams, set us in good stead for the future.

“Next year will not be easy but I am confident that we are in a strong position to take advantage of the recovery when it comes.”

Archant will be holding its annual group wide awards for editorial and commercial activities over the past 12 months in London on 22 January.

The company hosts individual awards for its divisions with those winners going through to the company ceremony next month.

Comments

Archant Slave (24/12/2009 09:20:06)
If you pay your sales people £17,500 a year I suppose you can easliy afford a £200 bonus.

Archant Pragmatist (24/12/2009 12:02:17)
Slave,
If you’re in the newspaper industry looking for cash, you’ve made a tactical error. If you want to make lots of money, why not become a recruitment consultant and rake in 10% of everybody else’s pay. Well done to Archant for rewarding its hard-working staff in these difficult times.
Regards,
Pragmatist

Archant (24/12/2009 12:31:37)
Slave, you fail to mention the fact field sales get a company car, and double your monthly salary with commissions! So i guess for you £200 is nothing!

Fred Household (29/12/2009 15:18:16)
THAT WOULD BE AN ECUMENICAL MATTER.

john haynes (07/01/2010 14:55:03)
Yippee a measly £200 bonus. What about annual pay rises for the staff. Bet management got lot more. Typical of Archan!