Jobs at risk after British Readers Digest files for administration
Jobs at risk after British Readers Digest files for administration
Thursday 18th February 2010
Over 100 jobs have been put at risk after the British subsidiary of the world's largest-selling circulation magazine Reader's Digest filed for administration on Wednesday.Employees of the title based in London and Swindon could now loose their jobs, although the administrators have said the company would continue to trade for the time being.
The decision to file for administration comes after the title's US parent company Readers Digest Association (RDA) said it was no longer able to support the British edition after the UK Pensions Regulator's decision not to give the go ahead to plans to fund its deficit.
The company currently has a pension deficit of £125 million.
Under the plans which were rejected by the regulator on February 1st, the American owner would have injected a lump sum into the pension fund and taken an equity stake in the UK business.
Readers Digest, which was founded in 1922 and has 50 titles around the world and boasts 48 million readers in 71 countries.
There has been a British edition published since 1983. At its peak the British monthly magazine had a readership of more than two million, but faced with an increasingly elderly readership has struggled to attract a new audience.
Readers Digest got into financial trouble after embarking on a highly leveraged buyout deal worth $2.8 billion backed by private equity group Ripplewood.
The company said: "The decision by the board of RDA UK to place the UK company into an orderly insolvency process follows the recent decision by the UK Pensions Regulator that it would not support an agreement between RDA UK, the trustees of its pension scheme and the UK Pension Protection Fund to settle a longstanding pension scheme liability.
"In the absence of an agreement, RDA UK is unable to meet those obligations financially and therefore unable sustain its operations."
Related News
FTSE 100 down marginally in early trade on Thursday - 18/02/10
Britain's leading share index the FTSE 100 was down marginally in early trading today as mining gains were reversed
Britain's leading share index the FTSE 100 was down marginally in early trading today as mining gains were reversed
Sir Richard Branson backs Conservatives over deficit plans - 17/02/10
Sir Richard Branson has added his voice to a chorus of critiques of the government's handling of the deficit by claiming it poses a "serious" risk to Britain's economic recovery
Sir Richard Branson has added his voice to a chorus of critiques of the government's handling of the deficit by claiming it poses a "serious" risk to Britain's economic recovery
UK unemployment falls marginally, official figures show - 17/02/10
UK unemployment fell by just 3,000 between October and December 2009, official figures have revealed, with total number of people out of work standing at 2
UK unemployment fell by just 3,000 between October and December 2009, official figures have revealed, with total number of people out of work standing at 2
Toyota apologises over recall and plans new safety measures - 17/02/10
Japanese carmaker Toyota has apologised to customers following a huge global recall and said it will be introducing a new brake-override system on new motors
Japanese carmaker Toyota has apologised to customers following a huge global recall and said it will be introducing a new brake-override system on new motors
News Article Search
Quick Apply
News Archive