The Belfast Telegraph is the latest newspaper to lose its iconic city centre headquarters. Its publisher, Independent News & Media (INM), is to close the office on Royal Avenue that has been its home for 130 years.
In the Telegraph’s own article about the move, it quotes INM’s chief executive Robert Pitt as saying: “The decision was not taken lightly. However, the plant is no longer viable.”
In a statement on its website, INM said he closure “is expected to be implemented by no later than June 2016” and will “entail a reduction of up to 89 employees.”
The company explained that its decision to sell off the landmark building “reflects the industry-wide trend of reducing print volumes as consumption of news via digital channels increases” and it is also linked to “the ending of a key contract with a UK publisher.”
But INM also said it “remains committed to its Belfast publishing business which will continue as normal.”
It appears that the editorial staff will move to new offices in central Belfast while the print operation continues in Newry, some 60kms (37 miles) away from the city.
Aside from the Telegraph, Dublin-based INM also publishes the Sunday Life and the Sunday World in Northern Ireland.
Both the Telegraph and Sunday Life have been suffering from falling sales over recent years. Their circulation declines have been roughly in line with the downward trend in the UK.
But it has been noticeable that the print version of the Telegraph, which lost a further 7.5% of its sale in the three months to June this year, has performed less well than the other main Belfast daily, the Irish News. By contrast, the Telegraph’s online site has attracted the largest digital readership in Northern Ireland.
Sources: Belfast Telegraph/INM/Irish News
