Sir Ray Tindle: Local Papers Will Live Forever

Sir Ray Tindle has spoken of the resilience of the local press industry and his strong belief that local newspapers “will live forever” despite the challenges posed by the economic downturn in recent years.  

Announcing a new bonus scheme for Tindle Newspapers’ staff, Sir Ray pointed to evidence of the strength of the industry in the face of competition from competitors and challenging economic conditions.

Sir Ray said: “Tindle Newspapers is only one group of many that have fought the good fight and shown that really local papers will live forever.

“We ourselves in these seven years, seven long drab years, have launched 20 new local papers in London and the provinces in an effort to replace lost national revenue and to raise profile.  We are proud of every one of them.”

“Our advertisement departments and our circulation departments have fought valiantly to keep up the revenue and the circulation.  The whole staff has been marvellous.”

“Because of this we have come through these years without borrowing a single penny, without making a single journalist compulsorily redundant and without closing a single main title nor missing a single edition.” 

Speaking about competition from the internet, Sir Ray added: “In l971 many were saying we would be badly affected by the coming of local commercial radio into our towns. 

“Then came a recession, followed by the arrival of free newspapers throughout the UK.  This was followed by local commercial television.  Our finest years, however, were from the mid-l990s to 2008when we had all these and other competitors hammering away all at the same time for the same pot of revenue.”