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Northcliffe exodus continues as Qualtrough quits Morning News

Alan Qualtrough is to stand down after seven years as editor of the Western Morning News, it has been announced.

A statement from publisher Northcliffe Media said he was leaving “to pursue other interests.”

The move comes just 48 hours after the WMN turned in what is being seen as the best sales performance of any English regional daily in the most recent ABC figures, achieving a decrease of just 1pc without the need for bulk giveaways.

Alan, who has been the paper’s editor since 2005, becomes the seventh Northcliffe daily editor or weekly group editor to leave the business in the past year.  His last day will be 11 April.

His decision follows those of Jon Grubb (Lincolnshire Echo), John Meehan (Hull Daily Mail), Keith Perch (Leicester Mercury), Marc Astley (Express & Echo), Malcolm Pheby (NottinghamPost) and Andy Cooper (Cornwall and Devon Media).

Alan first joined the company in 2001 as editor of the Plymouth Evening Herald, having previously worked as news editor at the Daily Express. He began his career at the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

Said Alan: “I have been immensely proud to work for Northcliffe Media and make a real difference to some of the communities I served.

“It has been a privilege to work with such a professional and talented editorial team who helped me transform the Western Morning News into one of the best performing titles in Northcliffe.

“The Western Morning News has been deeply rooted in Westcountry communities and traditions and has campaigned hard for them and long may this continue.”

Last year the Morning News became the first newspaper to be directly awarded a £1m grant from the Regional Growth Fund to create jobs in areas affected by public spending cuts.

Andrew Blair, managing director of Northcliffe’s South West Media Group, said: “Alan leaves the Western Morning News in a very healthy state, with one of the best circulation performances in the industry.

“We are grateful for his contribution to the business and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

10 comments

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  • March 5, 2012 at 1:28 pm
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    Is it just me or is there a lot of Northcliffe editors recently leaving to ‘pursue other interests’? What interests are these?

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  • March 5, 2012 at 3:11 pm
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    UKPG finish their similar report with ”According to one Northcliffe source, the spate of senior editorial departures may be linked to an impending reduction in the redundancy terms on offer.”

    Still, those of us wearing blue collars can rest assured Northcliffe management didn’t get 2.5 weeks for every year capped at 20 years (the going rate when they chopped me last year) – not that many of the latter can manage 20 years……..

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  • March 5, 2012 at 3:27 pm
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    Ours was 1.5 the national recommendation. Is that any good?

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  • March 5, 2012 at 3:43 pm
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    I got the push 14 years ago after 20 years service with Northcliffe Media. Took 18 months money and the car..
    Not stopped working since

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  • March 5, 2012 at 3:51 pm
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    I had my comment editted! I went on to make a few suggestions which no doubt the editors of HTFP naively thought were somehow legally dodgy or offensive. Basically I suugested children losing sweets and not being overly sad that some of these people were leaving… Snappy this would surprise me at all

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  • March 5, 2012 at 3:53 pm
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    Jack, it strikes me that the better-known (and indeed better) ones are quitting because they’ve got sick of the cut, cut, cut culture, particularly under some of the regional MDs – some of whom, although only qualified as accountants, also think they can dictate editorial policy and practice. If I were a well connected ed like Qualtrough I’d get out to somewhere where my talents were better appreciated, while I could still afford to.

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  • March 5, 2012 at 5:33 pm
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    Whichever way you look at it, it comes across as if something is seriously amiss within Northcliffe to lose all these talented people.

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  • March 5, 2012 at 5:37 pm
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    Oh! The first para of my muttering appear to have gone AWOL.

    T’was not of a libellous nature – or is it nearer the knuckle than we’re supposed to know?

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  • March 12, 2012 at 10:02 am
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    Great boss and editor, Alan. Really inspiring and creative and always looks out for staff. Will be missed!

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