BR denies newspaper runs face cancellation
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As predicted in Commercial Motor, Fleet Street is going off the rails.
Mike Newman of Mail on Sunday, part of Associated Newspapers, says his group's contract with BR will expire in two years, and it is aware of the road transport firms in the market. He does not rule out ending the rail distribution deal before that date.
Express Newspapers is also planning a move to road distribution once its contract with BR runs out, and The Guardian and the Financial Times could follow.
Robert Maxwell's Mirror Newspapers is planning to slim-down its wholesale distribution network in a bid to cut costs and speed up deliveries. The group — which uses NCCS Newsflow for its distribution — is following the lead of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which severed its link with many wholesalers earlier this year. Now Associated Newspapers plans to do the same.
Ricky Elliot, circulation director for the Mirror group, wants to cut its network from 800 to 192 areas.