The editorial director of the KM Group Simon Irwin is understood to be on gardening leave.

The Kent based company announced another round of job cuts last month revealing it was looking for around 160 redundancies in addition to the 59 which went last October.

One staff member confirmed to HTFP that Mr Irwin was “on leave” and it was not known when he would return.

Mr Irwin, 47, became editorial director of the KM Group in 2003 and is also a member of the Press Complaints Commission.

He has previously worked for the Western Mail, Cardiff, Derby Evening Telegraph, Coventry Telegraph and the Chad, Mansfield, where he started his career.

The company had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Comments

Diesel74 (10/03/2009 10:52:59)
Gardening leave? I’ll dig a hole for him, shall I? What kind of editorial direction shall he be judged on? Have the newspapers in the group got better editorially? Or has he just managed to save more pennies for the shareholders and people like himself, while reporters get paid peanuts and dropped at a moment’s notice?

realist (10/03/2009 11:51:14)
That’s it Diesel74. Kick a man when he’s down. How do you know he’s not walked because he opposed the cuts? I hope you’re not a journalist, jumping to conclusions like that when you don’t know the facts. If so you should be sacked. You bigoted moron.

Lister (10/03/2009 12:10:02)
Good time of year to be on gardening leave though, Realist. What about all the journos who’ve been tossed on the compost heap to rot?

Former KMer (10/03/2009 13:01:20)
It’s no wonder Kent’s the Garden of England, with the amount of people that have enjoyed gardening leave courtesy of the KM. (Speaking from experience, I might add.) Will the last one at the KM please turn off the lights? (And the senior Mr Grace’s life support.)

Diesel74 (10/03/2009 13:39:36)
Realist? If you were, you’d let the man’s record speak for itself. And insults? Well done.

ExExpress (10/03/2009 14:46:18)
‘The amount of people’ who have been on gardening leave at the KM?! Journos/ad people have had a ball there compared to other newspaper groups in the county…

former gardener (10/03/2009 15:48:18)
sounds like he’s just gone the way of any other km employee who had a bit of spark about them… personally i never had an opinion about the guy, but if the ‘rumours’ about an argument are true then good for him for standing up for himself.

Posie (11/03/2009 17:15:46)
Another day, another KM crisis. As a former employee, I personally feel like I am standing on a cliff, watching a sinking ship. In the short term, it’s a personal tragedy for ex-employees, but in the long term, the people of Kent will lose the most.

Nigel Jarrett (12/03/2009 17:10:13)
I like to speak as I find, and having worked with and for Simon in Derbyshire and Kent I’ve always reckoned him to be at heart a decent sort of chap. My money’s on him having stood his ground, and I just think it’s enormously sad how the financial situation is harming journalism in general right now. It doesn’t matter how high up the tree you climb, no one is safe in their job right now.

Tom (10/02/2010 09:59:20)
I cried tears of blood upon hearing this news.