Business Post to restructure with risk to six newsroom jobs

Newspaper announces changes to secure its ‘long-term sustainability’

The Business Post has announced it is undertaking a restructuring of the newspaper to ensure its long-term sustainability, which will leave six staff members in its newsroom at risk of redundancy.

In a message to staff on Monday, Sarah Murphy, Business Post chief executive, said the newspaper had undertaken an “in-depth strategic review” of its structure and future requirements.

As part of the process she outlined the newspaper intends to create 10 new roles which will have a focus on expanding its digital output.

However, staff were informed six existing jobs in its newsroom would be at risk of redundancy as part of the overhaul.

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It is understood managers are expected to brief impacted staff over the course of the day.

In a statement, Ms Murphy said the recent review had involved drawing up a “new strategy” for the newspaper.

This would allow the Business Post “to successfully adapt to the challenging media environment we operate in while preserving the integrity of both our journalism and our brand,” she said.

“We are now implementing a strategic restructuring to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Business Post and allow us to increasingly concentrate our efforts on producing leading business, political, markets, current affairs and property journalism,” she said.

The Business Post, which publishes a weekly print edition on Sunday, currently has 70 staff, about half of whom work in its newsroom.

Post Publications Ltd, the company behind the Business Post, reported a loss of around €36,000 in 2021, according to most recently filed annual accounts. It had reported a loss of around €215,000 for 2020.

Accounts for the Business Post group, which also includes its conference and events business, reported a loss of €760,000 in 2021.

Daniel McConnell, former political editor of The Irish Examiner, was announced as the new editor of the Business Post at the start of this year.

In a statement, Mr McConnell said all media outlets were currently operating in a “challenging environment”.

“The changes we are making now will ensure the long-term sustainability of the Business Post and allow us to continue to deliver our award-winning journalism seven days a week,” he said.

Jack Power

Jack Power

Jack Power is acting Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times