From Monday August 1, weekday editions of the Daily Mirror in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will increase in price from £1 to £1.10 while the margin will be cut by 0.5 per cent to 19 per cent.  In Scotland, the cover price will rise from £1.10 to £1.20, with a 1 per cent cut to the margin, taking it down from 20 per cent to 19 per cent.

Saturday editions are also increasing in price. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the price will rise 10p, from £1.70 to £1.80, but terms remain pro rata at 19 per cent.  The Scottish edition, however, will see a 20p price hike to £1.80 with a 1 per cent margin cut down to 19 per cent.

Jason Birks, National President of the Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed), said: “I feel betrayed by these margin cuts, as they are basically wage cuts to retailers. Five years ago, we were receiving margins of 21.4 per cent on weekday editions and 20.6 per cent for the Saturday newspaper and look where we are now. In Scotland, the situation is even worse.

“Our Scottish members prior to this increase used to receive 32p for each copy of a Saturday Mirror sold – now with the 20p cover price hike, and because of this latest 1 per cent margin cut, they will receive 34.2p per copy sold, around only 10 per cent of the price increase. Our members are simply being forced out of selling news as profits are falling.”

Mr Birks added: “I am looking forward to meeting the decision makers at Reach soon and seeking reasons why the retailers are always the ones who are hit in the pocket the most.”

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From Monday, May 2, weekday editions of the Mirror will increase by 5p to £1, with the Saturday edition increasing from £1.60 to £1.70. In Scotland, weekday editions will go up to £1.10. The same increases of 5p and 10p apply to the Daily Star.

However, in a blow to independent retailers who sell the Mirror, the move means that their profit margins will reduce from 20 per cent to 19.5 per cent for weekday editions and from 20 per cent to 19 per cent on Saturdays. Profit margins on sales of the Daily Star will also reduce from 20 per cent to 19 per cent on all editions, except Sundays.

The Fed’s National President Narinder Randhawa said: “This decision by Reach lets down the very people who have kept the news trade going for many years and particularly during the Covid pandemic.

“Reach previously included pro rata terms following price increases to the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, while it also advised that all its regional papers would follow suit. It therefore goes against the grain to now say the same conditions do not apply to its national daily titles.”

He added: “While we understand that publishers have to raise cover prices to counteract increases in the cost of raw materials, such as paper and aluminium, it is unfair to ask retailers to absorb these costs at their expense.”

The post Daily Mirror and Daily Star cover price increases will ‘hit retailer margins’ first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.