THE divisional managing director for Scotland at The Scotsman’s publishers, Johnston Press, is in talks about his future at the company.
Michael Johnston – who is also divisional managing director for the North-east of England – is among three senior execs in Scotland to have entered consultation with the company, the other two being David Caskie, divisional finance director for Scotland and North-east and Richard Bell, managing director of Johnston Falkirk.
Says The Scotsman today, Johnston is the last member of the family who founded the group – in 1767, in Falkirk – still with the publishers.
A statement given late yesterday by a Johnston Press spokesperson to allmediascotland.com said, simply: “We can confirm that we are in consultation with senior executives at The Scotsman Publications Ltd and Johnston (Falkirk) Ltd. We are unable to make any further comment at the present time.”
Michael Johnston is president of the Scottish Newspaper Society and is a past president of the Scottish Newspaper Publishers Association. He played a pivotal role in the merger of the SNPA and the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society into the SNS.
In July, a former Microsoft vice-president, Ashley Highfield, was appointed the new Johnston Press chief executive.
According to its website, Johnston Press operate 18 daily newspapers, 245 weekly newspapers and 273 local websites.
