A Community Media Company
Our aim is to serve local communities by meeting their needs for local news, information and advertising services through a range of media including print and digital channels which together achieve unparalleled levels of market reach.
History
Overview
Originally founded in Falkirk in 1767, Johnston Press is the only quoted UK newspaper group concentrated solely on local and regional press. The company owns over 270 local newspapers, most of which hold the number one position in their many different and diverse markets across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The Group’s publishing philosophy is based on the simple but inescapable fact that life is local, and the overriding focus of Johnston Press is to provide quality local news and content and a first-rate advertising medium for the local communities that it serves.
In recent years, the Company has made significant inroads in creating modern, state of the art printing capabilities with extensive colour capacity. With over 300 local web sites, it has also built a formidable internet presence.
After listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1988 the group continued to grow through acquisition throughout the 1990s and early years of the 21st century, consistently delivering strong turnover, operating profit and operating margins. The Group remains committed to development of quality local newspapers whilst maintaining prudent cost controls. The recent recessions in the UK and Republic of Ireland have hit advertising revenues hard across all sectors of the media and the regional press has had to adjust accordingly. Johnston Press has undertaken a programme of significant cost savings and is working with new technology and solutions to continue to deliver quality newspapers in an efficient way.
Some of the significant landmarks in the growth of Johnston Press have been:
- 1970 - Purchase of Strachan & Livingston Ltd, the highlight in a period of expansion by acquisition in Scotland.
- 1978 - Johnston Press successfully expands from its Scottish base with the purchase of Wilfred Edmunds Ltd in Chesterfield, followed by the Wakefield based Yorkshire Weekly Newspaper Group Ltd in 1985.
- 1988 - Johnston Press obtains a full listing on the London Stock Exchange.
- 1988 - The acquisition of West Sussex County Times Ltd marks the Group’s first purchase in the South of England.
- 1994 – The purchase of The Halifax Evening Courier represents Johnston’s first acquisition of a daily newspaper.
- 1996 - The purchase of the newspaper interests of EMAP plc promotes Johnston Press to the fifth largest regional newspaper publisher in the UK.
- 1999 – Johnston Press acquires Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers plc, increasing its daily newspaper titles to nine and establishing it as the UK’s fourth largest regional newspaper publisher.
- 2002 – The acquisition of Regional Independent Media Holdings raises Johnston’s portfolio to 244 titles, many of them market leaders, cementing its position as a leading UK regional publisher.
- 2005 – A year of 6 acquisitions, 3 relatively small - Thorne Gazette, Best Asian Media Ltd and Ashwell Associates Ltd - and 3 large deals - Score Press Ltd, Local Press Ltd and Leinster Leader Ltd, at a total cost excluding fees of £309 million. Through the acquisitions in the Republic of Ireland, Johnston Press becomes the largest publisher of local newspapers in the country.
- 2006 – Johnston Press adds The Scotsman Publications Ltd to its portfolio to become the second largest regional publisher in the UK at that time with over 300 publications every week.