Johnston Press is scrapping its five senior managing director roles, a move expected to result in the departure of Michael Johnston, the last member of the Johnston family involved in the company.
In a statement released Johnston said that as part of a management restructure that will see it remove a layer of management ‘to give more direct reporting from the operating companies”.
Johnston said the intention was to ‘create a flat and efficient structure to give the group the desired level of agility in the rapidly changing media landscape”.
The five divisional managing director roles for the publishing division are being scrapped, with three staying with the group in other roles and the remaining two ‘in consultation”.
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The divisional finance directors positions for the publishing division are also being axed.
A new role of group commercial and marketing director is being created to ‘strengthen further the group’s focus on growing top line revenues.’
Reports suggest that the senior executives under threat are Michael Johnston, Steve Brown, Richard Bell, David Caskie, Kathryn Armitage, Barrai McConville, Craig Fisher, Vince Lisle and Simon Howard.
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Commenting on the changes chief executive Ashley Highfield said: ‘As a group we need to be able to act quickly and efficiently to maximise growth opportunities in the ever more rapidly changing media sector.
‘While it is always sad to see loyal team members depart, we have to do the right thing to ensure the Group maintains and builds upon its strong competitive position within the local communities we serve.”
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