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MD leaves regional publisher after more than 20 years in industry

A managing director has left a regional publisher after more than two decades in the newspaper industry.

Newsquest has confirmed the departure of Chris Moore, who was the company’s MD in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

Julia Lancett, Newsquest’s Midlands South MD, has taken on responsibility for the four counties as a result of Chris’s departure.

Chris, pictured, spent 22 years in the regional press, mostly with Newsquest.  It is understood that his departure is not part of a wider restructure.

Chris Moore

He began working for the company in 1996 as a general sales manager in Trowbridge, moving to become group advertising manager in Swindon in January 1999.

In January 2005, Chris became head of advertising at Newsquest North East and Yorkshire before leaving the company to become commercial director at Archant Norfolk six years later.

In June 2012, he returned north to become regional sales director for Trinity Mirror in Newcastle, moving back to Newsquest two years later.

Initially MD for Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, Chris took on Berkshire and Buckinghamshire in December 2016.

A Newsquest spokesman said: “We can confirm that Chris Moore has left the business.

“Julia Lancett, managing director of our Midlands South business, will be expanding her existing responsibilities to also take over the leadership of our business in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Bucks and Berks.”

10 comments

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  • May 4, 2018 at 8:29 am
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    Another MD gone with immediate effect and with no explanation from NQ other than to confirm he has left the building, why?

    2018 seems to be the year those higher up the regional press food chain at many of the larger publishers jump ship or are made to walk the plank so it could be a sign of real change and new blood coming in after years of underperformance and incompetence by those on whose watch such msssive decline has happened.

    …,,though I’m sure it’s not the case here

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  • May 4, 2018 at 9:12 am
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    So Julia now has Midlands Plus 4. Good luck with that everyone.

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  • May 4, 2018 at 9:55 am
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    Prospectus- I too hope this recent spate of top floor suits departing encourages more of them to call it a day but I fear most will cling on to their highly paid jobs, treading water awaiting a pay off, and whilst i hope your point re new blood coming in happens so far it hasn’t as most of the outgoing lot are being replaced by company clones from within so it’s just more of the same old same old with the same people above pulling the strings

    Still, we must be thankful that some of those who’ve wielded the axe and cut many jobs are themselves being shown the door, though as you say I’m sure that’s not the case here, but with no comment from NQ I guess we will never know

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  • May 4, 2018 at 12:09 pm
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    It’s got to come as no surprise really. The amount of titles that have closed or that are a shadow of what they once were sales wise probably means that they are handling less than they used to 10-15 years ago despite the vast areas some of them now cover.

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  • May 4, 2018 at 1:18 pm
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    Taking up your point @ formerloyalfollower There’s no longer any need for huge advertising teams considering how little revenue is being brought in these days compared to when the income generated justified lots of sales people.
    MDs and commercial managers must also accept responsibility for the god awful ad revenues their teams are producing having accepted ongoing underperformance for too long. As for the number of managers, there’s always been far too many,none of which contribute anything to the bottom line other than adding costs ,yet it’s always the editorial teams who suffer cut after cut.

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  • May 4, 2018 at 2:30 pm
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    Blimey Midlands south, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Bucks and Berks, she will have her work cut out but think of the huge amount of extra pay for taking on this expanded role Julia!
    This seems like a very hasty departure as they’re not even trotting our the usual HR stuff and thanking him for the contribution made or wishing him well, wonder why?

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  • May 5, 2018 at 5:35 pm
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    We don’t know why this md left the business but looking at NQs ad revenues and overall commercial performance against their ongoing policy of job reviews followed by shedding staff its no surprise there’s been a parting of the ways, if you want the title you have to accept the responsibility that goes with it.

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  • May 9, 2018 at 6:03 pm
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    A sad loss to the industry, Chris was always someone who understood people as well as the industry it’s self, NQ are poorer without him, good luck.

    I also take exception to the comments of @Prospectus, having worked in Commercial departments up and down the country the guys in their work their socks off, so to call their results “God awful Ad revenues” smacks of a remark from someone who’s never actually had to go out there and generate revenue from an ever more fragmented market place.

    Commercial teams are like their Editorial partners some good, some bad, for every three or four real journalists in a newsroom there is also someone getting by posting click bate on topics such as 10 reasons we hate socks or posting a video of a cat falling off a wall but I wouldn’t tar everyone with the same brush, a lot work bloody hard, as in Commercial..

    Rant over.

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  • May 10, 2018 at 1:00 pm
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    @ it’s not grim

    I have worked in and with commercial and advertising teams most of my career but the commercial, advertising and financial results speak for themselves despite there being , no doubt, many hard working individuals within departments and for whatever the reason ,as MD,he along with the commercial manager or director must carry the can, commercial revenues are their responsibility,it’s not just a fancy title, it goes with the job.

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  • May 10, 2018 at 1:42 pm
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    -it’s not grim up north: teams and individuals may well ‘work their socks off’ but if despite their best efforts,the result of their endeavour is underperformance and missed budgets then as managing director responsible for commercial revenues, the buck stops there.

    Like it or not there is no justification for huge sales teams any longer with revenues such as they are and certainly no need for the vast number of highly paid managers who appear to busy themselves writing reports, emails and managing other managers while adding nothing of value to the business.

    We don’t know why this MD has gone or whether it was his decision or the company’s so can only guess, however if boards looked a little higher up than the front line troops in both editorial and advertising they’d see plenty of opportunity to make substantial cost savings without compromising the end product.

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