Page 481 - The Case Lab Book

Future. This aimed to increase digital engagement, and arrest

print decline rates, whilst improving operational efficiencies.

Furthermore, JP started planning the implementation of its

Salesforce of the Future project, with a focus on boosting digital

revenues. It achieved £7.6m cost savings in the first half of 2015,
which it claimed offset revenue declines and funded £2.6m

digital investment, a programme it will continue to target.

However, the introduction of the "Newsroom of the Future"
initiative which saw dedicated district reporters merged into

pools covering multiple newspaper titles led to the fear in the

industry that as journalists were cut, the quality of journalistic
copy and content would drop.

Scotsman Staff

2005 322 journalists

2006 280 journalists

In 2008 editorial and production head count at the Scotsman

were combined in the annual accounts and showed a fall from
456 to 414 in 2008. By the end of 2011the number of journalists

had fallen to 196. In contrast JPR Group employed 7,538 people,

of which 2,435 were editorial staff. By the end of 2011, overall

head count was down to 4839 of which 1800 were editorial.

By January 2016 JP had shed some 1000 journalists since 2009

in its attempt to deal with its debt mountain and a sizeable

hole in its pension fund. This was against an industry
background where the number of newspapers purchased in

the UK was declining: