Independent retailers have condemned Reach for using the festive period to try to “sneak through” cover price rises on its national, daily and weekly newspapers accompanied by a widespread cut in terms.
From January 4, cover prices will rise on all of Reach’s national titles – the Mirror, the Express, the Star, the Daily Record and Sunday World.
There will also be price rises for its stable of daily titles which include the Manchester Evening News, Hull Daily Mail, Newcastle Chronicle, South Wales Echo and the Birmingham Mail – as well as for its weekly titles.
The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) claimed that Reach’s titles were “no longer the cash cows they used to be” and that hiking up prices threatened news retailers’ livelihoods. The Fed claimed it would be seeking a meeting with Reach CEO Jim Mullen and would be writing to shareholders to express members’ fury.
