North Star publisher clinches deal to buy more titles
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NORTH Star newspaper publisher, Scottish Provincial Press, has acquired three more titles.
SPP, which publishes 13 paid-for weeklies from its base in Inverness, has secured J&M Publishing – adding three more newspapers to its portfolio.
SPP is one of the biggest independent newspaper groups in Scotland and prints all its titles from its press in Dingwall.
Now the group, publishers of titles like the North Star, the Inverness Courier, The Northern Scot and John O’Groat Journal, is spreading eastwards with the acquisitions of the Banffshire Advertiser, Huntly Express, and Banffshire Herald.
The papers operate out of centres in Buckie, Huntly and Keith. SPP already owns the Banffshire Journal in Banff.
The deal was announced today (Thursday) by SPP’s managing director Thelma Henderson.
"This is fantastic news, not just for SPP but for the three titles we have acquired," she said.
"We are an independent company that is completely committed to local newspapers and the vital role they play in their communities.
"The J&M titles are a perfect fit for us geographically, extending our footprint across an area that sits neatly between our Northern Scot and Banffshire Journal titles.
"It is a massive vote of confidence in the local newspaper scene in Scotland from a group with a proud tradition of serving the news and information needs of some the remotest communities in Scotland."
SPP will take on 23 people who were employed at J&M Publishing’s three centres, adding to SPP’s existing workforce of 240 people at 11 sites across the north of Scotland.
The Banffshire Advertiser was founded in 1881 by WF Johnston and has continued in the Johnston family until the present day by husband and wife Jack and Jackie Johnston. In 1991 they acquired the Huntly Express and Banffshire Herald forming the company J&M Publishing Ltd.
