Trinity Loses National Managing Director
Ellis Watson, managing director of Trinity Mirror’s nationals division, has announced he is to leave the business to return home to Scotland, after joining the company as general manager in 2003.
Ellis was appointed managing director of the publisher’s nationals division in May last year, holding responsibility for both UK and Scottish national titles.
The newspaper boss leaves Trinity on a high, with its national titles reporting significant growth in turnover, profit and margin last year, as well as showing the first year on year growth in advertising revenue since 2000.
Sly Bailey, chief executive officer of Trinity Mirror said: “Ellis comes from Planet Tabloid and we are all going to miss his flamboyance, his dreadful dress sense and of course his unswerving ‘modesty’.”
She added: “Ellis has imbued great excitement, wit and skill into our business and it will be a less colourful place without him. I sincerely wish him every success for the future and look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Ellis will join John Menzies in Edinburgh in September, taking up the role of managing director of Menzies Distribution.
Commenting on his departure, he said: “I’ve loved every thrilling moment in this wonderful business working alongside many of the most talented people in newspapers. I’m really grateful to Sly for giving me the opportunity to oversee some of the UK’s best loved titles and in doing so to post a cracking set of results.”
While working with Trinity Mirror, the outgoing MD has split his time between Canary Wharf and his family in Scotland. He said: “I love my family and wish to see them grow and develop so I’m returning to my other passions and life in Scotland.”
March saw Trinity announce a 25% increase in its annual profits, despite the continued circulation decline of its flagship publication, the Daily Mirror (see Trinity Reports Profit Increase As Cost Cuts Continue).
The company revealed a 6.6% rise in revenue for 2004, taking the group’s total to £1.1 billion. Advertising revenue for Trinity’s regional newspaper sector also increased, rising by 6% from £394 million to £418.8 million in 2004, while circulation revenues also rose by 6% to £80.7 million.
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