Johnston Press in new subbing hub plan

Johnston Press is consulting with staff over its latest plans to create a new centralised production subbing hub in Sheffield at the offices of The Star, HoldtheFrontPage reports today.

The company is currently implementing a new Atex content management system for its papers nationwide which allows reporters to write stories directly onto templated pages, as well as writing headlines for both the newspapers and the web.

Centralised subbing hubs have been created at JP's centres in Sunderland, the south Midlands and Lancashire with staff in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire now consulting with management over plans for their new hub.

Affected titles include the Mansfield Chad series, Hucknall Despatch, Buxton Advertiser, Belper News, Doncaster Free Press and Ilkeston Advertiser and it is not yet known if or how many redundancies there would be as a result of these latest proposals.

HTFP says it was rumoured that the hub would be based at the home of the Derbyshire Times, in Chesterfield, but it is now planned to centralise the roles at the offices of The Star, in Sheffield. A final decision regarding the proposed new structure is expected to be given to staff by 25 January.