Jobs lost as Trinity Mirror axes Saturday magazines

Two Saturday magazines, M magazine and Look, were axed yesterday at the Daily Mirror newspaper as part of a cost-cutting drive being launched by the publisher Trinity Mirror.

Yesterday staff at the Mirror were told that M, a flagship weekly title, and Look, its listings magazine, were to close. Some 19 jobs will be lost at M and a further nine at Look.

Although the number of jobs lost is small, the move was being seen as significant because it provided evidence that all parts of the business are being closely examined.

Insiders said the two magazines were not pulling in enough advertising. "We're going to run the business to make it as efficient as possible," said one source.

It is thought that Sly Bailey, appointed group chief executive in February, will reveal a wide-ranging cost-cutting programme when she reports the results of a strategic review next week. There is speculation that hundreds of jobs will go as part of a drive to achieve new efficiency gains from the company.

As well as editorial savings, Ms Bailey's review is looking at distribution, advertising sales and marketing arrangements across the group. It is thought she has decided the company is too bureaucratic and not entrepreneurial enough.

Trinity Mirror has three national titles, the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, and 260 regional papers, making it the biggest newspaper publisher in the country.

The Daily Mirror has suffered from an ill-fated strategy to cut its cover price, under the previous group chief executive, which kicked off a price war with arch-rival The Sun. All national newspapers have been hit by a severe downturn in advertising revenues that has lasted for more than two years.

Some analysts and investors have been pressing for a separation of the national and regional papers, undoing the merger that created Trinity Mirror. However, it is thought Ms Bailey will resist this in favour of offering tighter management of the group.