Around 95 jobs are to be lost at a printing plant responsible for publishing four local daily and a host of weekly newspapers.

Harmsworth Printing has confirmed last month’s announcement that it was proposing to shut its centre in Plymouth.

The majority of staff will be made redundant by the end of the month while a few will be kept on to decommission the press before the final shutdown in mid-April.

Titles currently published at the plant include Plymouth dailies The Herald and Western Morning News, Exeter’s Express and Echo and the Torquay-based Herald Express as well as sister weeklies from the South West Media Group, a division of Northcliffe Media.

It is not yet known where the titles will be printed in the future and the nearest Harmsworth plant to Plymouth is in Didcot, Oxfordshire, almost 200 miles away.

Harmsworth Printing managing director John Bird said: “We have been informed by the employee’s representatives that they have accepted the company’s proposals for the closure of HPL Plymouth.

“The majority of our employees will leave by the 28 February however a skeleton crew will remain after that date until mid-April to accommodate production needs and the decommissioning of the press.

“The company would like to thank the staff for the way they have conducted themselves during this most difficult time which reflects the commitment they have always shown.”

Comments

Rob (19/02/2010 15:43:03)
Presumably this announcement was preceded by the obligatory 30-day ‘consultation’ period.

Iain duff (19/02/2010 16:20:25)
Very sorry for the press crew. Believe me there is life after working for this shower. I suggest the other members of staff keep their eye on the state of this company, the redundancy cash must be running out.

Jerry (22/02/2010 09:24:06)
What a dreadful shame – very difficult indeed for the press crew to find another decently paid job in the Westcountry.
What a good job the roads to the south west and around Devon and Cornwall are able to cope with all the extra traffic driving the papers in from 200 miles away!
Readers and advertisers won’t like this ever increasing disconnection from the area – and the money to pay the journalist’s wages will dwindle even more.

Deadpan Dan (22/02/2010 15:29:06)
They’ll have to get a bigger coffin to fit the rest of Northcliffe in soon.