Haymarket Publishing to lay off fifty staff

Haymarket Publishing, the owner of many horticulture brands including its flagship garden Horticulture Week, announced on the 18th November that is was laying off fifty of its staff across the organisation in response to worsening market conditions.

Rachel Gallagher reporting for the Press Gazzette says that as well as the fifty job cuts, two of its publications will go completely on-line.

What is more, there is a cross the board pay freeze for all of the senior Haymarket staff and further recruitment has been put on hold.

PG quotes Haymarket chairman Michael Heseltine: “After a fairly robust first half of the year, the last few months have seen deterioration in trading across our UK businesses. At the same time, we are experiencing increased costs in paper, print, power and postage."

Further cost saving measure include a freeze on new company cars, and a 2.5% pay rise for staff under £75,000 as well as a review of office space and accommodation.

The scenario I predicted back in October 2007 is starting to unravel apace and it is something that traditional media will have to get used to.

The fifty jobs at Haymarket represents three percent of the total workforce but I can see further reductions as advertising revenues are reduced still further and print and associated costs continue to rise.

The recent case of French News closing with the loss off twenty one jobs highlights how profitable companies can fail in such a short space of time.

Miranda Neame, editor and co-owner of French News told Charles Bremner of the Times On-line 'that her trouble stemmed partly from internet competition.'

Tribune Co. is said to on the verge of filing for bankruptcy as it is faced with a $1 billion in interest payments this year and $512 million debt repayment in June.

The greatest risk to established media with big payrolls, is independent media publishing magazine sites who are able to report quickly and change business models immediately to suit conditions.