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November 27, 2003updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Bella editorship vacant again after Fleming quits

By Press Gazette

Bella: high turnover of editors

Bella is searching for its fourth editor in 16 months after Rebecca Fleming resigned suddenly this week.

Despite citing “personal reasons” for her departure and saying she wanted to spend more time with her two-yearold daughter, her resignation sparked concerns about the high turnover of editors at the magazine.

Fleming was regarded as a “big hitter” and was parachuted in to boost sales in January following the abrupt departures of editor Jo Sollis and publisher Kathy Day weeks ahead of a redesign and the next round of ABCs. Fleming left her post as deputy editor on sister title Take A Break, making her the third editor of Bella in the space of six months.

H Bauer publishing director David Goodchild said this week: “I accepted Rebecca’s resignation with great regret, given the magazine’s rejuvenation this year under her editorship, but fully understand her reasons for leaving. Rebecca took on the role in January tasked firstly with stabilising the magazine with a view to growing the circulation in the long term. This was all achieved in only eight months, purely on the basis of improving the editorial. The evidence of this success will be seen in the release of the February ABC results.”

Bella suffered a circulation fall of 10.5 per cent year-on-year to 398,009 in the January to June ABCs and a 7 per cent drop period-on-period. It has also faced a growing threat from Best, with its increased celebrity content. A source said: “What Bella needs more than anything is stability at the top.”

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Fleming leaves on 5 December.

By Ruth Addicott

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