England’s north is fashionable again – thanks to the elevation of a former Manchester mayor as the UK’s newest prime minister – and the nation’s media are taking note.
Among the latest of these is regional publisher Reach, which owns national daily the Daily Mirror, and has chosen Manchester for its ‘Mirror North’ base, nestled within its Manchester Evening News building.
It’s an echo of the days when Manchester was a centre of power… and, of course a reminder that the Manchester Guardian started as a regional daily before dropping the city from its masthead and going national (and global).
From the end of this month, the new office will “provide a base for Mirror journalists who live in the region”, with Maria Breslin – currently editor-in-chief of the Liverpool Echo – moving over to a new role as the Mirror’s editorial director with responsibility for the online publishing team and its Mirror+ paid subscription offering. She will be replaced in Liverpool by Steve Graves.
Reach, which now claims to be the UK’s largest publisher, says the changes mean Mirror executive editor Lizzie Smith will be able to focus wholly on its “talent-led” video strategy, which includes a new biweekly YouTube show to be launched this month. The Mirror claims the north of England as a traditional stronghold, and now reaches 41 per cent of the region’s online population.
During Trinity Mirror’s tenure, the Oldham site – which is home to Reach’s print facility – had been occupied by the Mirror’s northern team, with Manchester Evening News journalists moving in as well in 2010.
Among aims of the new arrangement, according to Mirror editor-in-chief Chloe Hubbard, is to attract talent from outside London, “working and living in the heartland of our readership”, which she says is “a longstanding personal crusade”.
• Oldham is central to Reach’s newly-announced consolidation of UK printing operations for the Mirror, Express, Daily Record and Daily Star, with most of the work currently produced in Saltire (Scotland) to move there. Watford (Hertfordshire) is also set to close, with work from there moving to News Corp’s Newsprinters site in nearby Broxbourne.
The announcement has been greeted by newsagents’ president Hetal Patel asking editors for earlier deadlines. Reach chief executive Piers North said print “remains an important part of our business, and will continue to drive considerable circulation revenue, but our future is firmly rooted in digital.
“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.”
Pictured: Mirror editorial director Maria Breslin with Liverpool Echo editor Steve Graves (photo Reach)