Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey is to leave the company with immediate effect, six months earlier than planned.
Ms Bailey had already announced that she planned to step down at the end of this year after nearly a decade in charge of the national and regional publishing group.
However the change has now been brought forward with group finance director Vijay Vaghela taking on her duties while a permanent successor is found.
The surprise move was announced in a company statement this morning.
It read: “Trinity Mirror plc (“Company/Group”) announces that Sly Bailey is to step down as Chief Executive of the Group and resign as a director of the Company with immediate effect.
“The Company is progressing its search for her successor as Chief Executive using the services of Egon Zehnder International.
“Until a permanent appointment is made the duties of the Chief Executive will be assumed by the Group Finance Director, Vijay Vaghela who will work closely with the newly appointed Chairman David Grigson.”
Mr Grigson said “The Company and the Board are grateful to Sly for her immense contribution and leadership over nearly 10 years.
“Despite the deep economic downturn, the actions she has taken with her team have ensured the Company has consistently delivered robust profits. We wish her well for the future.”
Ms Bailey said “Newspapers are a business like no other and it’s been an absolute privilege to have led Trinity Mirror in this fascinating and all-consuming role.
“Everything I’ve achieved during my time here has been underpinned and supported by the hard work, commitment and enthusiasm of our tremendous staff.”
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, commented: “Finally, Sly Bailey is doing the decent thing and leaving the company she has led into monumental decline.
“There is now a window of opportunity for Trinity Mirror to think long and hard about the way forward for its titles and for the business.
“The strategy of relentless cuts under Bailey’s management has repeatedly failed to turn around the company’s fortunes and only served to line the pockets of its chief executive – now is the time for investment in quality content and journalism.”
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Six months earlier than expected, but still 10 years too late. Boom boom!
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An inglorious reign ends appropriately.
Incidentally, I’m not sure it was “all-consuming for her. Her leadership was conspicuous by her absence. She didn’t exactly lead from the front.
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Walking away with a reported £900,000 pay-off in the same week production staff in Scotland have been told to relocate/face redundancy. Scandalous.
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don’t get too worked up….it’s standard management policy for a departure date to move forward, particularly if the company has got wind of a new job that person may already have…or is in negotiations about. In that case, better out than in.
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Trash folder – does that mean she may have a new job? How has she managed that?
I hear there’s a vacancy at Spurs which would be perfect for someone who can manage decline.
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Observer – do you envisage Spurs tumbling to the Conference, with ground gone and all the best players sacked, sold or legged it, while Ms Bailey is on £1.5m a year plus an eye-watering bonus for the next relegation, celebrating her “immense contribution”?
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Say what you like, she has still done better than the rest of us cash wise.
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Maybe Spurs could be merged with Arsenal to create a seven day a week football team, maybe changing its name to Arsenal-on-Sunday. It would save a fortune
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Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Vijay’s the one who signed off on all her cost cutting. You have to laugh at Grigson’s remarks, robust profits, yes, but with severely reduced assets.
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Do you mean all of us added together, wastepaperbasket?
Maybe, maybe…
And doing better than regional journalists cash-wise doesn’t set the bar very high – I bet a good chunk of the GB working population could claim that one (average GB annual salary Mar 2012 £24.16k+).
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Doesn’t change anything – the business fundamentals are the same – people don’t buy newspapers like they did…… and newspapers aren’t good organisations to launch digital excellence from.
What’s needed is a leader with vision and ability to create a future which isn’t just carefully managed decline.
They’ll then have to overturn 10 years of a collective mindset where the best anyone can look forward to in the future is just managing decline until the cash runs out.
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Has anyone organised a whip-round?
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