Regional publishing giant Reach plc is hiring four new regional businesses editors, after a series of cuts that had seen the roles largely phased out over the last couple of years.
The publisher has announced it is restoring dedicated business sections on its leading websites, with ads now live for vacancies in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, and reinvigorated business coverage promised for regional sites including WalesOnline, the Daily Record, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, BirminghamLive, ChronicleLive and BristolLive.
Reach’s specialist business portal Business Live, which has also been subjected to recent cuts, will continue to operate but will now be more focused “specifically on entrepreneurs and enterprise.”
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The process will be overseen by Birmingham Live editor Graeme Brown, and was announced on LinkedIn by Paul Rowland, Reach’s editorial director, news.
Announcing the latest editorial shakeup, Rowland wrote: “I’m delighted to announce that we’re putting business journalism back at the heart of some of our biggest news brands.
“We’ve just gone live with four new business editor vacancies – in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool – and over the coming weeks we’ll be relaunching dedicated business sections on sites including WalesOnline, Daily Record, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, BirminghamLive, ChronicleLive and BristolLive.
“As we evolve our subscriptions business, we believe there’s a real opportunity to put these regional and national brands back at the heart of our business communities with a renewed offer that meets the needs of this audience in an evolving world.”
He added: “But this isn’t the end for BusinessLive. Under Alistair Houghton’s continued leadership it’ll evolve to focus specifically on entrepreneurs and enterprise, telling the best and most inspiring stories from this sector, and providing relevant and helpful content to those building their own business success.”
The apparent editorial u-turn reverses a series of cutbacks made to regional business coverage over recent years.
Last December the company’s business editors in Scotland and the Midlands were made redundant as part of a wider newsroom shake-up that saw the loss of a total of 321 editorial roles and the creation of 135 new ones.
Prior to that, in December 2023, five specialist business editor roles were axed including roles covering Manchester, Liverpool and the North West.
