A newspaper boss who has twice bounced back from redundancy has been axed for the third time in as many years, this time by Johnston Press.
Steve Brown, left, was regional managing director of Trinity Mirror’s North-East and Midlands divisions until 2009 when his post disappeared in a restructure.
Within a matter of weeks he had been hired as chief executive of the Claverley Group, owners of the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, but left that post after just three months.
Then in September 2010 he was named as the new boss of Johnston Press’s Northern division – but is now set to lose this job too.
The move comes as part of a major cull of senior managers within the regional publisher, with the five regional divisional managing director posts all due to disappear.
Earlier this week we reported that Scottish divisional managing director Michael Johnston – the last member of the company’s founding family still working there – was in consultation over his future.
Johnston Press confirmed in a statement that it was removing the divisional MD tier of management but said that three of the five individuals affected would be remaining with the company in other roles.
The two who are now in consultation are Mr Johnston and Mr Brown, with Nick Mills (Midlands), Gary Fearon (South) and Jean Long (Northern Ireland) all moved to other duties.
In a statement, the company said the changes were designed to “to create a flat and efficient structure to give the group the desired level of agility in the rapidly changing media landscape.”
“It comprises removing one complete layer of management to give more direct reporting from the operating companies.
“The five divisional managing director positions for the publishing division will cease to exist going forward with three of the individuals staying with the group in other roles and with the remaining two now being in consultation.
“The divisional finance director positions for the publishing division will also be removed as part of the reorganisation and these individuals are also in consultation.”
Commenting on the changes chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “As a group we need to be able to act quickly and efficiently to maximise growth opportunities in the ever more rapidly changing media sector.
“While it is always sad to see loyal team members depart, we have to do the right thing to ensure the group maintains and builds upon its strong competitive position within the local communities we serve.”
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I always thought it was the lower end of the pecking order that got the chop first but obviously not. It’s nice to see that there’s some equality in the cull – not that that will come as any compensation to Mr Brown. PS – a picture of him looking sullen would have been more appropriate.
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Steve Brown wasn’t the yes man they originally thought,hence he had to go. So much for Highfield’s brave new world!
I think Steve knows exactly how to turn these media conglomerates round but unfortunately I suspect he’s once again pointed out that abandoning quality, sacking people and a headless chicken approach to digital aren’t the way forward, and that’s not gone down too well.
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He’ll be missed in Lancs too. Having worked in Blackpool and Preston I fail to see what the new Southern MD will bring to Lancashire. We already had two of the most revenue led MDs in JP. If I was Darren and Christine I’d take them on – that’s if they haven’t already been snapped up by Newsquest! As you can gather this hasn’t gone down well this side of the Penines either.
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So these latest cuts are designed to “to create a flat and efficient structure to give the group the desired level of agility in the rapidly changing media landscape” eh?
Roughly translated that means they’ve got rid off most of the people at the bottom. Now they’re having a go at the people at the top. It’s painful to watch the greedy bean-counting muppets in charge of the British regional newspaper industry being so destructive.
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I worked with Steve at Northcliffe – Top Man!
Not sure the rest of the senior management team at JP were up to much frankly.
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They always seem to get rid of the wrong people. Steve Brown was intelligent, challenging, vastly experienced and highly supportive of his staff. Why did they bring him in just to pay him off a year later ? It seems crazy. I suppose a restructure looks good for the new Chief Exec.
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Why did they bring him in to pay him off a year later? Because they haven’t got a clue about how to turn things around and no doubt Steve looked like a good idea at the time.
They don’t want any solutions that might cost money – and Steve may have suggested such heresy.
It’s all part of the downward spiral which is now virtually in freefall.
I’d say it was managed failure but it’s worse than that. It’s mismanaged failure across the boardrooms – with bonuses!
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Steve was by far the best of the succession of characters who went through the revolving door of the MD’s office when I was joint-FoC at Trinity Mirror Midlands.
As Tog says, it’s obvious he doesn’t agree with the only idea the big media companies can think of to save themselves.
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The group does indeed need to be able to maximise growth opportunities – and Mr Brown’s track record in this regard is unblemished. Having led the Northern Division of JP to deliver best-in-group performance, this seems as good a time as any for Steve to take his remarkable talent and make good his escape from regional press. I wish him all the best of luck.
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I’m sure I’m not the only person who wold be interested if Steve Brown launched/took over/bought out/invested in an independent newspaper company!
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He was too good for Johnston Press.
Simple as that.
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