Together the two operations will have revenues of more than pounds 100m

Together, the two operations will have revenues of more than pounds 100m and will be immediately profitable, even after the extra investment on editorial product.The Independent titles will be integrated commercially into this existing structure. The two titles, which last year made operation losses of pounds 7m, will be integrated into Independent Newspapers’ existing and profitable UK interests. Brendan Hopkins, chief executive of Independent Newspapers UK, said he believed a rejuvenated Independent would be a flagship for the group world- wide.
The Independent would be positioned as an unashamedly upmarket newspaper “appealing to a young professional, high-income, educated readership that is truly looking for an independent viewpoint”.There would be immediate and significant investment in editorial quality – a strategy Independent Newspapers believes will eventually justify a pricing policy that will carry a premium for all broadsheets.However, Mr Hopkins stressed the company had no intention of initiating a price premium for the Independent titles in the short term. It also owns the largest regional newspaper group in Australia.Rosie Boycott, editor of the two Independent titles, said she looked forward to working with a management steeped in broadsheet experience. THE INDEPENDENT and Independent on Sunday are to become part of a global newspaper empire with a stock-market value of more than pounds 1bn and leading national titles in Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Portugal.

He wants to see them restored to their former glory right at the top of the market, holding a firm and independent line.”. “Tony O’Reilly is a great, charismatic and inspirational leader, who is tremendously committed to these titles. If you are going to have a proprietor, Tony O’Reilly strikes me as really ideal.”Dr O’Reilly was born in Dublin in 1936 and first shot to stardom 29 rugby caps for Ireland. He then carved out an equally dazzling corporate career, notably in the dairy industry, where he spearheaded the butter brand Kerrygold.He was soon headhunted by the American food giant HJ Heinz, rising swiftly through its ranks to become CEO and chairman, based at its Pittsburg headquarters. It is now the largest newspaper group in Ireland as well as in South Africa, New Zealand and Portugal.

He used his earnings to acquire a controlling stake in Ireland’s Independent Newspapers and a range of other Irish companies down the years.His Dublin-based newspaper group has expanded steadily. On one of the few occasions when the editor of the FT felt the need to call him, Lord Bracken simply asked: “Is it about the paper?” “Yes” “You are the Editor,” and the phone was put down.”Dr O’Reilly is very much from the Brendan Bracken mould,” said Brendan Hopkins, who yesterday became managing director of Independent Newspapers UK.Andreas Whittam Smith, who founded The Independent in 1986 and will remain on the board of the company, said yesterday: “We started The Independent in order to create a newspaper which was proprietorless. “He told me that if the right career opportunities came along, I couldn’t be considered if I was pregnant or had to look after the children.”Miss Harrild, from south london, said that the English Cricket Board had paid her to have the abortion at a private clinic on February 1997 It had paid her pounds 400 delivered in a brown envelope. She said that following the abortion she became severely depressed and was pressured into giving up her job before being dismissed.The decision comes just weeks after the MCC failed to vote with a big enough majority to admit women members.Last night, the ECB denied paying for the abortion and also denied a number of comments Miss Harrild attributed to the board’s members The tribunal will reconvene to rule on compensation.. THE change of ownership of The Independent and Independent on Sunday came at the end of tortuous negotiations and represented the fulfilment of a dream for Tony O’Reilly, whose Independent Newspapers group concluded the purchase yesterday. The new owners immediately gave guarantees that the papers would be “signed up to no political party and free from the taint of commercial pressures”.
The new board “including politicians of different views and eminent journalists, will guarantee the freedom of the editors from those pressures.”A statement from the board said the owners “today commit themselves to the preservation and growth of the titles as serious and intelligent broadsheet papers of unimpeachable integrity.”For its part the board expects the editors to deliver honest decent, liberal-minded papers, which avoid extremism, report accurately and analyse fairly.”The board believed that “the future of a varied, free and undeferential press is essential to democracy; and that the best way to preserve that is journalistic excellence, trusted by the public.”Dr Maurice Hayes, a member of the Irish senate and a former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, has joined the board of Independent Newspapers UK, along with the former governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten.Dr Hayes said: “Independent Newspapers are extending their ownership of The Independent as a matter of commercial common sense, not for trophy hunting, as has been suggested, or to satisfy the whim of the proprietor.In his view Dr O’Reilly – who is chairman of Independent Newspapers with a 27 per cent stake in the company – believes as much in hands-off proprietorship as the late Brendan Bracken, who became the last Irishman to become a London press baron when he acquired a controlling interest in the Economist and the Financial Times.

In a decision that will do nothing to improve the already deeply misogynistic image of the headquarters of cricket, the tribunal decided that Theresa Harrild had suffered sexual discrimination.
She told the tribunal Mr Lamb had pressured her into having the abortion following a brief affair with Nick Marriner, a development executive. She said the pressure she was put under caused her to have a nervous breakdown.Miss Harrild, 32, a receptionist at Lord’s, said she had been told by Mr Lamb that it would be the “best thing all round” if she got rid of the baby.”I felt I was being pressurised into a decision I didn’t want to make,” she said. THE chief executive of the English Cricket Board, Tim Lamb, pressurised a female employee into having an abortion after an affair with another member of staff, an industrial tribunal heard yesterday He then sacked the woman. Mr Banks added fans should remember their behaviour during this year’s World Cup in France and other matches abroad would influence the decision.

“They are ambassadors for the country and they have got to realise they play a crucial part in persuading the world that English football is of the finest quality and that its supporters are amongst the best in the world,” he said.The sports minister added that he hoped people who had not taken England’s bid seriously would now change their positions.So far the main competition to hold the World Cup in 2006 comes from South Africa and from Germany, which made an offer to launch a joint bid with England. Ministers say they felt the offer was an admission that Germany was unlikely to win the bid.Dr Havelange said that 2006 would be the 40th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup in England, but in 2010 Brazil would have a strong case because it held the tournament in 1950.. The discussions were very cordial and were conducted entirely in French, so I don’t really know what they decided,” he joked. It was here that the game was created, it was here that the game grew up, it was here that the laws of the game were created,” he said.Speaking through an interpreter, he added that the FIFA executive would make its decision in 2000.