Reach plc has confirmed there will be further job cuts this year after reporting falling revenues and a sharp decline in digital traffic, as the publisher behind titles such as Manchester Evening News shifts from “volume” of content and doubles down on subscriptions and original journalism.
Half-year results for the six months ending 30 June 2026 revealed a 9% fall in revenues, digital revenue is down more than 11% and page views falling 40% year on year. Investors subsequently wiped almost a quarter from the company’s market value.
Despite what he acknowledged were “tough” results, chief executive Piers North insisted Reach’s long-term future lies in producing more original journalism, growing subscriptions, building distinctive brands around titles such as the MEN and Liverpool Echo, and becoming less reliant on publishing a high volume of stories.
READ MORE: Cuts keep profits just about afloat at Reach plc
Speaking to Prolific North following the release of the results, North also revealed that further cost reductions would inevitably affect jobs, although the publisher remains “on track” to meet its profit expectations for the year.
While the results were “not what we want”, he argued that Reach had been able to “partially mitigate” the impact of falling traffic.
“The question about scale and volume is at the heart of things as we change the business going forward,” he explained.
“We are very much focused on moving away from pure volume of content and really focusing back on our original content, and on our brand’s distinctiveness and the areas they can win.
“In the North, the MEN, Echo and Chronicle are focusing more on the brands, then obviously making sure we deliver better returns.”
Further job cuts confirmed
Asked whether he could rule out further editorial job losses this year following previous rounds of cuts, North admitted there would be further job losses before the end of 2026.
“I’ve been very open with the teams that there will be cost reductions. Given the biggest part of our business is people, unfortunately that will mean there are less jobs in the back half of the year,” he said.
“The plans and the details – it’s too early to say. We obviously want to make sure that we take out costs and avoid labour but given the size of our labour budget, it’s inevitable.”
While it was too early to say how many journalism jobs could ultimately go, he pointed to investment in marketing and other skills alongside the cuts.
“I think it’s important to say that we’re rebalancing cost reductions with investment.
“We will be bringing in skillsets into the business. We talked today about investment in our brands. That’s going to mean marketing skills. It’s not something we’ve had in the business for a while to make sure our brands have the ability to promote themselves in the best possible way.”
When North became chief executive last year, he inherited not only a difficult financial position but also an organisation that had faced criticism over staff morale following previous rounds of job losses.
On what he had done to change that culture, North said staff welfare remained a priority but acknowledged the reality of leading a business through continued transformation.
“The point around people being pressured, we take very, very seriously. As always, the concept of welfare for our staff is really, really important,” he said.
He said there was a shared “desire” across the business to prove Reach’s new strategy could succeed, arguing that journalism needed to become commercially sustainable through revenue streams including subscriptions and AI licensing.
“We are a business that is passionate about journalism and professional content, but it needs to be professional journalism content that delivers a profit in the new era.
“If journalism becomes the preserve of charities, then I don’t think it’s a good place to be.”
While acknowledging the “unsettling nature of cost reductions”, he said the company had “no luxury” but to continue making difficult decisions.
“We will not shy away from difficult decisions. We do not have the luxury to shy away from them. All I can do in terms of culture is be open and honest with people.”
On what has changed internally, he said Reach has done “lots of stuff” from improving internal communication and putting video “front and centre” to give staff more opportunities to ask questions and share ideas.
“We continue to look for ideas to turn the industry around. We are a canary down the coal mine in many ways. For the industry, when we succeed, the industry succeeds.”
‘Less about volume and more about original content’
Reach also set out how its long-term strategy will be “less about volume and more about original content, distinctive brands and securing better returns”.
Despite concerns investors may have, he says he’s confident in the direction of that strategy on reversing some of that decline in traffic and revenues.
“When we look at the progress that we made on some of those priorities, the subscriptions, the video, these are things that ultimately give us much more control on our digital business.
“Popularity of our content remains as strong as ever. Whilst we’ve lost page views, our reach is maintained across the UK. 66% of the overall UK online population still visit us each month. I think the numbers are even higher in the regions, it is around 70% in Newcastle and Manchester.”
Despite the market reaction to the results today, he argued Reach is “very open” with both the market and investors and is “always planning this business for the long-term”.
“The challenge has not been our access to audiences, but what has changed is the currency being delivered by the market,” he explained.
“We have a significant base of users, we’re growing that subscription, we’re growing our video, social activity and our presence. We have those distinct brands – and they continue to evolve, and have done so through many ups and downs.”
Asked how Reach would fund its shift towards more original journalism while advertising revenues continue to decline, and how it would convince investors the strategy would pay off, North said the publisher already produces a “huge amount” of original content.
He added Reach remains one of the UK’s largest commercial employers of journalists and is focusing its resources on higher-quality reporting rather than content designed primarily to drive search traffic.
“The flip side has always been that we’ve known that we’ve had to make sure that we market those brands as wide as possible, and that is where the volumes come in for Google. We’re not alone in this. Every media organisation is now focused much more on quality over quantity.”
That means steering away from stories “traditionally designed for the search market” and redirecting resources towards original reporting and formats such as video.
“I have utmost confidence that we have the resource and the ability. We’re producing some incredible video now,” he explained. “We are having to just rebalance our efforts away from those stories that were designed to get us pure short-term page view reach.”
On how that shift towards original content will impact how journalists and editors across its titles will now be measured, he said it is a decision for editorial management to “figure out the right balance”.
“Page views are still, and will be, an important part of what we do. The idea that any media organisation can get away from advertising – we’re just rebalancing it.”
He said Reach’s newsrooms already measured a broad range of indicators, including engagement, page views, subscriptions, conversions and affiliate revenue.
“It’s never been a one-dimensional tool, because it can’t be in a modern media organisation,” he added.
But he was adamant that this is “not about asking people to do more with less”.
“Across every part of our organisation, this is about making sure if you are spending a pound in whatever way, shape or form, that you are getting the best return from it. So this is not about doing more – definitely not. It’s about focusing our efforts and attention.”
A bigger bet on subscriptions
North also defended Reach’s growing use of paywalls, despite the publisher previously arguing local journalism should remain freely accessible.
He insisted the company’s strategy had not changed since it introduced its paywall model last year, describing subscriptions as an optional premium tier rather than a replacement for free news.
“We are still going to make sure that we have great content available to our users.”
While the majority of Reach’s content would remain free, he argued journalism that is “more expensive to produce” needs a sustainable funding model.
“The point around subscriptions is giving people the optionality.”
Reach has so far rolled out its premium offering across around 15 websites and has set a target of reaching 75,000 subscribers this year.
“We’ve had success and rolled them out across all the big and small nationals and regionals. It’s been fascinating to develop. MEN has between 5,000 to nearly 6,000 subscribers, and that’s been going for six months.
“The Stoke Sentinel, which we only rolled out a couple of months ago, that’s doing incredibly well.”
The subscription strategy is also behind Reach’s decision to trial community websites in areas including Southport, Ayrshire and the North East.
“These are our smaller brands that have had no online presence because realistically, in the traditional model of ad revenue, there wasn’t a business model to have,” he said.
“There will be some free content, but these will be more biased towards the premium model.
“So we are going to continue to invest in that local content, but the business model will have to change. The bias, certainly for the smaller ones, will have to be more towards the paid model. But we’re excited. We’ve been delighted by some of the progress that our regional titles have given us.”
