An independent publisher has warned rivals not to take their territory “for granted” after it unveiled expansion plans for one of its weekly newspapers.
Taylor Newspapers is expanding its Wallingford edition of the free Oxfordshire Guardian series to incorporate the town of Henley-on-Thames from today.
The new edition will go head-to-head with the paid-for Henley Standard, owned by another independent publisher, the Higgs Group.
Didcot-based Taylor Newspapers also has plans to expand its Observer series, which currently prints editions in Berkshire and Hampshire, to new areas.
The Guardian currently runs to six editions covering patches centred on Abingdon, Didcot, Oxford, Wallingford, Witney and Wantage.
Less than 12 months ago, Taylor launched the Newbury & Thatcham Observer, and the company has earmarked the series for further expansion.
Last week’s Wallingford edition of the Guardian
Managing director Howard Taylor said: “There are fewer independents these days and opportunities are all around us.
“We are up against formidable competition in some areas but we don’t shy away from taking on some of the goliaths in the industry, it is what we have become accustomed to.
“We have had our share of tough times in the past and in a way it has been a good thing to have experienced that and it has made the company stronger and more focused as a result.”
In a press release revealing the new plans, the company says “no publishers should take it for granted that they retain ownership of a territory.”
Associate director Julian Richings added: “Having sold against Taylor Newspapers for many years when I was employed by Newsquest Oxfordshire I could see the potential for Oxfordshire Guardian to become a leading newspaper.
“The past two years of restructuring and refocusing our sales floor has led to a marked improvement in performance resulting in significant year on year increases.”
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This is all ridiculous stuff – how on earth can this crackpot outfit afford a CE on £2.3m pa; two deputy CEs on £1.4m pa each; four deputy assistant CEs on £840k pa; regional MDs, assistant regional MDs; regional editors in chief etc etc and all the other staff essential for producing local journalism? And why isn’t Mr Richings trumpeting “Digital first!” in the way our canny corporations who can see a glowing future do? And, finally, what on earth will the institutional City shareholders think? No, it won’t wash chums – back to the drawing board!
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I think you’ve got the wrong company there Dick. Do some research…..
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Dick Minim ….. Can I just say I have read your comments above and would like to point out that I think you have the wrong company. At Taylor Newspapers (Oxford) they do not have a CE or 2 deputy CE’s, they have an MD Mr Howard Taylor and a Sales Director Mr Julian Richings, who I can assure you are not on the large salaries you quoted. (CE on £2.3m pa; two deputy CEs on £1.4m pa each; four deputy assistant CEs on £840k pa; regional MDs, assistant regional MDs.) I can only assume that you have the company mixed up with another. The Taylor Newspaper Group in Oxfordshire, who are responsible for the Oxfordshire Guardian series and the Observer series only turn over approx £1.1M pa so could not even afford to pay such high salaries. In the words of Winton Churchill … You have enemies that’s good it means you have stood up for something you believe in… I say GOOD LUCK Taylor Newspapers.
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Only trouble is we are talking about expanding a free, which relies exclusively on advertising.
What happens when there is a serious economic downturn like in 2008-12, 1991-96, 1980-1986 etc etc?
There were three frees around my way. None have come back since 2008. They all vanished without a goodbye.
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Dan, Tracey. You don’t do irony, do you?
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Dick Minim. It is not just Americans who can’t do irony it seems judging by dense reaction to your tonque in cheek comments! I get you!!
Good luck to this outfit. I hate the big companies for what they are. Greedy.
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While it is great to see a printed paper go on an expansion drive – with none of the usual management speak about digital strategy and synergies – just a shame they are targeting other independent publishers.
Both the Newbury Weekly News and Henley Standard have fought hard to remain successful. Would be better if Taylor Newspapers went after some of the neighbouring Newsquest papers.
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Er, Dan and Tracey, irony is not something you do to your washing once it’s come off the line. It’s… er… oh, never mind.
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Dick Minim; I think you need to find something better to do with your time. Gardening maybe?
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Well I appreciated the sarcasm Dick!
Jupiter, the point here is that once, free newspapers put through your door were typically 90% ad content with no real quality journalism. Today, many of the new independent free newspapers often surpass the quality of their established paid for rivals. The reason is clear, these independents are run by local journalists and business people committed to the area, rather than being driven by the needs of city shareholders committed to the their next dividend. As for revenue, newspaper sales revenue hasn’t played a huge part in the economics of a local newspaper for decades.
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No offence meant, Dan. But this isn’t a forum about gardening.
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My apologies echo and the bunnymen; I thought this was holdthefrontspade.co.uk! This forum is also not about irony…..
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Echo. no need to have a dig at Dan. He was just trying to sow an idea with Dick. I think he thought Dick had lost the plot!
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Dan, you made the mistake of missing the irony so don’t have a pop at Dick Minim for the perfectly valid point he was making about the likes of TM etc.
On that note, it’s a good point. Local publishers, paid-for or otherwise, can find profitable gaps in the market being left in the wake of these regional ‘synergies’.
A profit margin of less than 20 or 30 per cent may be an issue for the shareholders of the big boys but, at a local level, it’ll keep a substantial number of people in the jobs they love for the foreseeable future.
Good luck to Taylor Newspapers!
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I’m all for frees, but we must look at them with our feet on the ground. The sad fact is that they come and they go. If they are really worth their salt they will become “paid for”.
Sales revenue is not to be sniffed at, and was important until 2008.
Frees are being produced by dedicated journalists and business people with their hearts in the local community. But this is not enough to ensure their success and the continuation of local democratic accountability.
You are going to have to something independent of business if you are going to have real democracy . As we all know, nothing in this world is really “free”.
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I forgot to add that today’s established paid for rivals have been slashed to the bone, so I’m afraid that is not the yardstick to judge independent frees by
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Coming soon to HTFP … Dick and Echo the video double act. Essential viewing.
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Group hug, and let’s talk about the good old days when experience ruled and your age was not a disadvantage.
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Nice one Ex insider, I’ll make sure I put on my best lippie. I was looking for another career anyway.
And Dan, et al. For gosh’s sake. Mr Minim was using irony to make a valid point about how excellently Taylor Newspapers have done. And by comparison, how other bigger companies have not.
I find his method of doing so quite amusing. If you didn’t get it, fine. No need to beat yourself (or anyone else) up about it.
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Dick by name, dick by nature.
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Howard Skinner; Dickensian shurely…
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Jupiter, I have to disagree, dedicated and talented journalists and local business people ARE enough to ensure the ongoing success of quality free newspapers.
Sticking with the outdated idea that only paid for newspapers are worth anything is simply harking back to the days when newspapers were the ONLY source of local news and so could commanded a coverprice.
A good newspaper being read by a significant percent of the population every week, paid for or not, is a great proposition for local advertisers and an even greater proposition for the community it serves.
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@Howard Skinner. Dick Minim’s comments can be funny and thought-provoking. Yours are not. Your latest effort is boorish and offensive.
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Notme: Thank you for the defence. After 306 years, though, I have seen all the Skinners in all their gory glory. Back to the point: Independents are the way forward; corporations aren’t; but what does that headline mean about parking “on” the police station? Does it have rooftop vehicular facilities? I think we should be told.
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Too often commentators on this website, myself included, are derided as cynical washed-up old hacks, stuck in the old ways of a dead and dying medium.
Younger journalists see our comments as at best unhelpful, at worst gloating at a struggling industry.
What they often fail to realise is our despair at a still largely profitable industry being run into the ground by sheer greed and incompetence.
A management that exploits its workforce but not its USP (ie its patch).
So when a story like this comes along it is worth noting that we older hacks (I am still in the industry) like to give a cheer.
And as for the point about advertising-led free newspapers surviving during recessions, I say this: any management with half a brain will know that advertising is cyclical and that for every good year, you will at some stage have a bad one. The secret is not to prepare for the bad years during the ones by not wasting millions on doomed and ill-thought out strategies, getting greedy with dividends, overpaying useless management etc etc.
So the best of luck to these independent newspaper groups, I am only sorry that they are expanding on the patch of another independent.
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My local free paper is much better written than my local paid JP paid-for. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a start.
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I make that about 4-0 to Minim United.
Or to use a boxing metaphor, the numpties who failed to get the humour and the irony in Dick’s comments are taking so many lefts they’re almost begging for a right.
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I cannot for the life of me believe HTFP have allowed Howard Skinner’s comment to stay up. Just as well Mr Minim (a fine, upstanding citizen with a genuine care for the industry) has a thick skin, nurtured no doubt by years of working in said industry.
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Let’s wait and see how their audience pans out once the title is audited and on Jicreg – personally I can never see that happening!
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If a free generates reader loyalty, surely readers will be prepared to start paying a little for it? But I don’t know of any frees that have lasted long enough for this to happen.
It’s a contradiction in terms, you cannot provide an adequate news service on the cheap. Frees are fine for what they are, an entertainment, but they are not the answer to providing for an informed democracy.
“7 day TV guide” will always take precedence over local news.
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Jupiter, newspaper sales does little for the bottom line for a small weekly and as for equating loyalty with willingness to pay, that ship sailed when local news was chucked on line as a free for all. Give people a well edited, quality newspaper through their doors every week and you will build a following that will in turn build an advertising revenue that sustains your quality publication.
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One of the byproducts of falling newspaper sales is that there are lots of presses fighting for work and the cost of newspaper printing has become astoundingly cheap. To the extent that a hyperlocal free newspaper doesn’t cost much more to start than a hyperlocal website. And advertisers are still willing to pay for print ads if they know their target audience will see them. There will be hundreds more of these free papers filling the gaps as the paid-fors close.
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Good luck – but the quality of headline-writing and layout need a quick upgrade. Looks rather dull and boring.
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