Fear and anxiety at Racing Post as paper makes plans for redundancies
Jobs are to be lost at the Racing Post, the daily paper which serves horse racing and its followers, with its owner blaming loss of revenue caused by the Covid-19 crisis. The news is a blow to staff, most of whom had put up with temporary salary cuts to help sustain the business during its recent 76-day hiatus from print.
Having accepted those cuts, which averaged around 25% but went up to 50% for higher earners, staff were encouraged when the Post returned to print last week at the same time as racing resumed. The Guardian understands that salaries have now been restored for active members of staff, though some others remain on furlough.
But over the weekend, the Spotlight Sports Group announced to employees that a reduction in headcount could not be avoided. It issued a statement, saying it “plans to enter a consultation period with staff in the coming weeks to discuss the implications of the financial challenges facing the company”.
“Like many other companies, the Group is responding to the changed circumstances and loss of revenue resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Changes such as a diminished racing and sporting programme and the economic downturn mean Spotlight Sports Group needs to reorganise to safeguard the future of the business and as many of its employees as possible.
“The Group is determined that the quality of its content and products will not be compromised and is looking at every significant non-staff item of expenditure to try to minimise the number of job losses, but the reality is that it can no longer sustain the workforce it employed before the advent of coronavirus.”
The mood among staff is said to be an understandable mixture of fear and anxiety, and there is also some dismay that such action should be necessary, even allowing for the coronavirus-enforced shutdown. The business had previously remained successful in the face of the familiar challenges facing the news sector and a profit of £8m was made in 2018 according to accounts lodged in September.
News of the planned redundancies may come as a surprise to racing insiders, many of whom appear to believe the Post should be in robust health. The trainer Richard Hughes, who was a weekly columnist in the paper for some years, complained through Twitter about the cover price and the large amount of advertising in Saturday’s edition
The Post is providing a service not just to the industry but to other newspapers, since it is one of two businesses, along with the Press Association, allowed to send reporters to the track. Quotes taken from trainers and jockeys are shared around under a pool system which is expected to be in place at least until the end of the month, including for Royal Ascot.
There was better news from a different corner of the racing media, as ITV reported its viewing figures for Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas peaked at more than a million viewers, compared to 653,000 last year. Following similarly strong figures for the 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, it seems that televised racing is benefiting from being one of the first sports back in action. ITV4 plans to show 26 races this weekend, including the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Friday evening.