Whittam-Smith To Resign As Chief Exec

Andreas Whittam-Smith, founder of the Independent, will offer his resignation as chief executive of Newspaper Publishing, which publishes both the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, at a board meeting today.

He will continue in his role as editor of the Independent, and will concentrate on promoting the papers.

There is also likely to be a debate over plans to raise extra finance; the plan suggests £1.5m for each paper, which is a great deal less than was widely expected. There are fears that the sum will be inadequate to meet the fierce competition expected in theautumn from The Times and The Observer.

The apparent crisis facing the circulations of both papers means there is doubt as to whether £3m is enough to turn round the fortunes of the group.

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER MTHLY ABCs

SALES HISTORY – INDEPENDENT & INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Launch - 292,000 Jan-June 87

Peak - 414,000 Jan-June 90

Never over 400,000 since Jan-June 91

Jan-June 92 - 376,532

Jan-June 93 - 346,374

Launch - 352,335 July-Dec 90

Peak - 406,978 July-Dec 92

Jan-June 93 - 385,076