Newspaper publisher Reach has announced plans to close its printing plant in Glasgow with the loss of about 100 jobs.The company said the Saltire site in Cardonald would wind down operations in the spring, with production moved to its facility in Oldham.
The move will see some of the brand’s Scottish titles, which include the Dumbarton Lennox Herald, The Paisley Daily Express, Hamilton Advertiser, Stirling Observer and Daily Record and Sunday Mail, printed in England.
The Unite union said the decision had come as an “utter shock” to the workforce.
A consultation with affected employees is under way, Reach said.
The firm is also closing its Watford site, with work there being moved to the Newsprinters facility, based in Broxbourne, Hertforshire, as part of an “outsourcing agreement”.
A smaller portion of Reach’s Scottish titles will be printed by DC Thomson in Dundee as part of a “consolidation” of print operations.
‘Strategic move’
Reach chief executive Piers North said the move was a “proactive and strategic move,” adding the future of the company was “firmly rooted in digital”.
He said: “Print remains an important part of our business, and will continue to drive considerable circulation revenue.”
“By refining our print operations, we can focus our attention on content and audiences – the core driver of our business – and accelerate our digital growth opportunities such as our digital subscriptions offering.”
The Saltire printing site was opened in 1994 by then-Labour leader and future Prime Minister Tony Blair to coincide with the Daily Record’s centenary.
Reach prints 17 of its regional newspapers at the facility, alongside the Scottish editions of the Daily Express and the Daily Star.
It also runs the Edinburgh and Glasgow Live websites.
The company announced a raft of redundancies across its print and online titles in September last year.
Unite industrial officer, Norman King, said the plans had been announced with “no warning”.
He added: “There is minimal detail on timeframes and there have been no discussions involving Unite on a potential closure.
“We have urgently called for meetings with Reach plc on whether anything can be done to reverse this decision.
“It would be a bitter irony for the workers and the Scottish printing press if the closure goes ahead only to see flagship publications such as the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, printed in England.”
Bill Heaney, editor/owner of The Dumbarton Democrat, said: “The Lennox Herald is an institution in Dumbarton but in recent years it has been starved of investment and deprived of proper staffing. Consequently its sales figures have dropped catastrophically.
“The whole newspaper business in Scotland has gone to the dogs largely because the Scottish Government spends so little on advertising in the weeklies and local councils no longer support them with public notices for licensing applications and the like, which were their lifeblood.
“The editorial content has also taken a dive with some publications carrying 12 pages of puzzles to make up for that. Births marriages and deaths notices have mostly gone too although some have crossed over to digital. Display advertising is at a minimum.
“And the fact that there are so few local shops owned by local people who have a real interest in the community they serve means they do not realise the values of advertising locally.
“It’s a shame really because every time the ownerships changed the new proprieters embarked on cost cutting programmes and milked their new purchases for all they were worth.”
He added: “I launched the Dumbarton Democrat to try and fill that gap because I love newspapers and the service they do for the local public.
“The Democrat is FREE to access and FREE for clubs and communities to advertise in. The council have banned us because we refuse to kow tow to them and report things as they truly are, not stories fashioned in collusion with spin doctors employed to tell only one side of the story and that’s theirs.
“It’s our job to speak truth to power and to ask the questions the public would like to ask, but they too are being deprived by this democratic deficit.”
Top of page picture: The Lennox Herald editorial and advertising staff in their High Street office in the 1960s. Picture by Brian Averell.