Chiefs first to go as IPC cuts jobs
IPC has axed a raft of senior exec-utives following the news that it is making 200 people redundant, around ten per cent of its workforce.
South Bank, the upmarket publishing division whose titles include Marie Claire and Ideal Home, suffered two casualties. Cathy Rudd, publishing director for home interest titles and Andrew Taylor, publisher for the Parenting, Wedding & Home and Hair titles, have left.
Cathy Day’s job as publishing director for the TV Weeklies has been axed, although she will be found another role within the company. TV Times editor Liz Murphy and group marketing and promotions manager for the TV Weeklies, Seran Anderson-Haddick, have also quit.
Other casualties include new media publishing’s technical director John Sands and Roger Spink, head of Creative Solutions, which is now part of IPC’s business enterprises division.
IPC also confirms that Iris Burton and David Durman, editors-in-chief for the weeklies, have gone.
Rita Lewis, publishing director for Marie Claire, will take on Taylor’s responsibilities, while Jackie Newcombe has joined South Bank from the Weeklies group to take over Rudd’s responsibilities.
IPC is hoping to save about 6m from the redundancies, which will cost about 5m to implement. The company announced this week that its poorly-performing title Options is to close in March, but revealed plans to develop “Project B”, a new fashion title led by Deborah Bee, former editor of Scene.
