Should the nationals abandon London?

The recent news of further job cuts at The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling and most profitable broadsheet, is another major blow to the wider newspaper industry. The positions of a number of senior staff on the newspaper’s features, culture, picture and foreign desks, along with a number of commercial roles, are believed to be at risk and are part of more widespread cost-cutting measures.

And for those that survive the cull, there is more bad news.  The Telegraph’s staff canteen is also facing the axe which will be particularly galling for journalists forced to work the anti-social hours often demanded by an overstretched newsroom.

And it’s not just The Telegraph facing job cuts. The news follows hot on the heels of 300 jobs to go at Guardian Media Group as the company attempts to turn their loss making operation around.

When print advertising declined by a staggering 20% in April, it’s easy to see why cost cutting is big news in the newspaper industry.

But if the world of print media is to survive, it must constantly invest in its editorial team and content. Nothing will kill the industry faster than weak content – so where can the newspaper industry look to next to save cash (and their long-term futures)?

Perhaps the answer is in the regions. Can struggling print titles continue to justify lavish London HQs or should they follow the Reuters’ lead and start looking to the regions for lower cost solutions.

Reuters recently announced they were to open a global subbing hub in Nottingham as a more affordable location for its employees to work from. The move will undoubtedly also save the company money as it relocates desks away from some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

Of course it would be impossible (and foolish) to abandon London completely in favour of the regions and newspapers would still have to find somewhere for journalists to file their stories from in the nation’s capital. But desk-based roles in news, features, pictures, subbing and design, as well as multiple commercial roles, could all be housed elsewhere or even managed remotely.

The BBC has moved huge swaths of its operation to Manchester and Glasgow. Couldn’t/Shouldn’t the nation’s broadsheets do the same?