Page 483 - The Case Lab Book

32 jobs at risk in Scotland, up to 13 in Northern Ireland, ten in

the North East and eight in the North West.

This announcement came on the back of rumors that JP were

trying to sell The Scotsman for £10 million. In August 2009

Scotsman Publishing was estimated to be worth around

£40million. By January 2016 it was estimated to be worth
between £4 million (taking into consideration the pension fund

liabilities) and £10 million a substantial drop from the £160

million JP paid for it some ten years earlier.

Government attitude had also crystalised over this period as

the SNP Government made it clear that it saw the regional

publishers as an important part of its local devolution helping

the regional publishers by steps such as relief on business
rates and ensuring that public notices continue in print.

th
Furthermore on 17 February, 2016 it presented a Policy
Document feeding into the BBC’s charter renewal process,
scheduled for later in the year, calling for the setting up of a

Scottish BBC which would be a semi-autonomous Scottish

board to be created to hold BBC Scotland to account. The

board would itself be accountable to the Scottish Parliament.