NFRN Chief Executive, Paul Baxter (pictured), says: “I am dumbfounded by the reply which agrees to work together on collaborative commercial activity, but refuses to withdraw the percentage margin cut. In my world that is not how business partners work. Joint commercial activity is about two partners working together for mutual benefit.”
Mr Baxter continues: “Ever since this percentage margin cut was imposed, my phone has been red hot with irate members demanding that the NFRN organise a day of action against the Guardian. This was very evident at a recent meeting in London when over 200 members vented their anger. Whilst my legal team tell me that collective action is not something that the law allows us to do, I can well understand the anger and frustration of our members, who see their livelihoods progressively disappearing down the pan as a result of uncaring and irresponsible publishers who want to control prices and margins, but seem to think that it is only them that experience increasing costs.”
Coming on the back, continues the NFRN statement, of multiple attacks on their margins over a protracted period, the mounting anger of retailers, leading to unprecedented militancy, appears to have lit a fire that publishers may find hard to extinguish. As a consequence of that, the likelihood is that the Guardian may see scant reward from its cover price increase as retailers switch their support to those titles that have remained loyal to them.
The timing of this is also extraordinary given that the OFT is shortly to deliberate on whether to conduct another review of the news industry, which may determine whether a referral is made to the Competition Commission for a full market investigation.
Mr Baxter concludes: “As one of the areas identified by the OFT as likely to prevent, restrict or distort competition was publishers fixing and printing cover prices, perhaps we should be saying “thank you” to the Guardian for helping us to demonstrate why intervention from the Competition Authorities is now urgently needed”.
