Ann Nugent CEO of the Queensland Newsagents’ Federation was quoted in a report in The Australian Financial Review yesterday as being shocked by the announcement and that the QNF expected a consolidated run to be 2,000 papers a day and not the announced target of 10,000.
I am shocked that the QNF is shocked. Their expectation of a new distribution size of 2,000 demonstrates a lack of understanding of the economics of newspaper distribution, an ignorance of consolidation that has occurred elsewhere and a disconnect with what publishers have been saying on this topic.
No association should be shocked by the T2020 announcement. For them to say so would demonstrate, in my view, poor leadership.
The QNF quote, if accurate, encourages me to renew my call for the ANF to take control of T2020 on a national basis with a properly funded project office established to serve the needs of all newsagents. This is not something to stuff up, it is not something to leave in the hands of people clearly unable to lead newsagents.
Now more than ever the newsagency channel needs strong unambiguous leadership. Newsagents will get the leadership they want since the associations are servants of their members.
So who exactly worked on this T2020 plan ?? Just the paper company by the looks of it . I always was under the understanding that they where working with the qnf anfs or what ever other ones are out there
Maybe a question for the QNF.
IF Ann Nugent has been quoted correctly then her comments show a truly bizarre detachment from reality. The News Aust. staff we have been in contact with over the last several months have always spoken in terms of 10,000 plus. Our own feasibility analyses points to even higher volumes than this for reasonable economy of scalle. Even then the outcome is relying on a healthy proportion of delivery to subagents.
I have sense that the associations are listening to the wrong newsagents when they are getting input from the industry. Bigger proactive agents tend to be taking more care of themselves and not relying on the associations to communicate for them.
There’s nothing wrong with the idea of an association but in the current circumstances the associations seem to have the wrong end of the stick as to who they should be representing.
Totally agree. With industry consolidation these issues require national representation.
I hope Anne will comment on this today .
i am the only newsagent in a town of about 2500, no way will there be 10000 papers here? do they plan to join several towns up for a central hub? cant see that working for home delivery tho. Anyone know how they plan to do country areas?
Rick
Similar case to you. Our News rep told me we would not be affected by these changes as the area needed for the 10,000 per day would be to big to cover. But you never know. I would talk to your News rep and ask them to clarify your situation if they can.
We deliver around 700 papers a day and we were told by our Nationwide rep that he thought we would be fine. So, I dont know how you expect the QNF to predict 10,000 papers a day when Nationwide own Territory Managers were way out of scale!
I am certainly not defending them as NANA and ANF have been more than disappointing in their lack of response. Infact, I was gobsmacked by ANF CEO “interview” if you could call it that, with Ross Greenwood on the 2GB moneyshow last week. He spruiked so positively in Nationwide’s favour that Ross Greenwood fired up and had to defend the poor newsagency channel!
Im not expecting much from the Associations as they have been too weak for too long. (Ive been in the industry for just over 15 years).
Mark to answer your question – yes. I believed vana when they said they were talking to news. Maybe they were talking to them but they sure did not disclose everything to us.
Could someone let me know how many employees and vehicles would be needed to deliver 10,000/day. Assuming 6000 home deliveries and 4000/ subagents. Is there such a thing as a high speed wrapping machine? Employees to be working a five day week. I am having a hard time getting my head around it.
It seems to me that the real problem with the plan is that no attention has been given to fairness in the restructure. It appears that there will be a few winners and a lot of losers.
Presumably, the people who end up have expanded runs will have a viable business that has a value as a business on the market. In most cases, the value of that business will be derived from the loss of value of the newsagencies that are forced to give up there run.
Some will say that there run has no value.
In relation to this I make these points:
1. A basic tenet of our economic system is that the value of anything is what someone will pay for it, therefore, the value should not beset by the central planners in News Ltd, but the people who want to distribute to the enlarge territories competing for the existing territories within enlargements.
2. Even the existing territories have value to the existing distributors. Firstly, because they mean newsagents receive full commission for shop sales-News has exploited this for years by saying of you give up your run you will be treated as a subagent; and, secondly, the undeniable fact is that If an agent has a run, it is of value to him, whatever, the reason, or he would have handed it in.
It would not be that hard to structure the change so that those making the bid would, in competition with each other, tender a price for existing territories.
REALLY cant wait to see what they do here in Tassie…..the Mercury has a curculation of about 45,000 a day….for the state…, which has 130 odd newsagents, are they going to have 4 accounts for the entire state???
i think that when they realise that not every newsagent is in a major city we might actually get somehwhere . This one size fits all aproach is not going to work . each newsagent needs an individual contract with a bit of negotiating going on .
Magazine companys must be loving this it takes the spot light off them for a bit
To be fair the News announcement clearly stated that this rationalisation and number was focussing on newsagents in larger urban areas and that it would not necassarily include country and some regional agants. It will be business as usual for them. It is not a one size fits all. Rather, if the cap fits , wear it !
However consider this: if you have half a dozen towns within say a 20km radius, a truck leaving the printery at midnight probably won’t drop off at the last town until 3. If the same truck drops all of the papers at one town at say 1am and all break up and wrapping is done there, that has got to be cheaper for all concerned. Moreover the wrapping can start a couple of hours earlier and 2 wrapping machines wil churn through the papers of 6 agencies in a couple of hours. Sure the drivers from further away have to drive a few kms to pick up their papers, but you can collectively compensate them for that.
As Mark says attend to what you got to gain from the future, not what you think might be losing from the past.
Ann is either wrong or poorly quoted.
I was at the ANF conference where NWN quite definatley stated their case and intentions. !0,000 was always the number and Ann was there at the time.
Do not know what the QNF has up its sleeve but they need to put out a clear statement.
azeem
they also need to do the home deliveries in each town
Noel, This is what newsagents could have addressed in 1999 had they been professionally represented.
So Mark, it was clearly stated in 1999 by News Ltd that they were moving to a 10,000 paper depot drop-off mode ?
Azeem, a 20 km radius just doesn’t make it in rural Australia !!!
At least while the dollar is = $US1.05 our petrol is reasonable. Do the same calculations with the dollar at 60c and all our petrol IMPORTED, then consider if you want to own a daily delivery run of 10,000 newspapers before 6am in the morning. Just sayin’.
hm bo it wasn’t. My point was in response to Noel’s about fairness. In 1999, the monopoly and open-ended tenure newsagents had was stripped from them thanks to the Howard Government. That was not fair. From 1999 on we have not had distribution businesses with goodwill reaching long into the future.
10,000 papers would need probably
10 agents (throwers). It is already
being done here in SA and it works quite
well.
“Migration” has meant that agents do not
have accounts any more (only subagent
accounts) and here in SA we have flat wrap and the papers all arrive in the depot
already wrapped so don’t go investing in
a “cheap new wrapping machine” because
they are now finished as well in our state.
The depot system provides the Advertiser
with the ability to drop 10 agents’ product
into one area (we were forced into depots
years ago at our expense I might add)
This is workable and it is probably the only
option for round only agents.
Having said that it is disgraceful that we are not being recompensed for the capital
investment we have made into this industry and our fellow throwing agents
will only make a living for their efforts not
a profitable investment like they envisaged.
No matter what anyone thinks – it will happen.
Queensland have been a thorn in the side
of Unity for many, many years and here is
an opportunity for unity. Get rid of local
associations and go national – NOW.
June,
You say get rid of the local associations and go national – please tell me what the national bodie has done in the past 5 years.
Nothing.
National issues are magazines oversupply – nothing from the anf.
Now we have the diabolical Nationwide News telling everyone what they think of newsagents and what has come out of the anf – nothing.
At least there is some assistance from VANA and NANA.
John, the trouble is that NANA & VANA
& QNF are so parochial that they think
that they are the only ones on the planet.
At least with the ANF it would be truly national and maybe we could be heard nationally with 4000 agents and about 28000 subagents as opposed to the state
levels.
By the way, I am not a member of either
a local or national association and I wouldn’t join again unless I saw some runs
on the board.
I totally agree with you but the national body has NEVER BEEN TRULY NATIONAL
and that is my issue. The publishers
only pay it lip service as opposed to all of
us belonging to a national association and
demanding results from them (or doing as
I did – cancelled my membership)
Old school or new school – it does not matter!!
June is right in many ways about an effective response to News Ltd and HWT’s T2020.
What really matters is a full on arm wrestle with News Ltd out ithe public domain of the social media.
My wife and I vave established a FACEBOOK PAGE, Newsagents Fight for delliveries
Newsagents’ Fight For Deliveries | Facebook
Newsagents’ Fight For Deliveries is on Facebook. To connect with Newsagents’
Fight For Deliveries, sign up for Facebook today. Sign UpLog In · Cover Photo …
http://www.facebook.com/Newsagents Fight For
Deliveries
Please do take a look at our page and post your comments.
Eugene, the channel has been deregulated for 13 years now. The fight you are trying to make is one the channel leaders should have pitched in 1999. Today, in 2012, it’s a different world and newsagents should know that. The publishers owe us nothing.
Mark you are right they owe us nothing however in this case with News Limited in my view they crossed the line. its called blackmail and all affected Newsagents should express there feelings.
Its an unethical solution by News limited that has/may/will devalue many Newsagents business’s. My hope is that some body will instigate a Legal challenge.
If someone thinks that losing their distribution run and then being demoted to a 12.5% commission per sale of a newspaper and being recognised as a Retailer & a Newsagent is a good idea please express your views.
How many hundreds of Newsagents will this effect in a negative way?
Does anyone know how exactly the tender process for the new contract is going to work?
Is it a transparent process or does News arbitrarily pick a winner?
The ‘second phase of the tender process’ is the one to watch. When News Ltd
talks about 10,000 papers per morning
they are hoping that it will frighten the
current crop of agents right off their game.
They know that the end is nigh and they
just want to use us up until the death knell of newspapers (probably about 2-5
years).
THERE WILL BE NOTHING TO SELL PEOPLES!!!!!!!
THERE WILL BE NO COMPENSATION, PEOPLES!!!!!!!
WE HAVE BEEN LET DOWN BADLY BUT
WE HAVE KNOWN FOR AT LEAST A DECADE THAT THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
It is happening in SA and the world is still
turning. Newsagents will be rationalized with T2020 and some will lose both income
and investment – they will unfortunately be
the collateral damage that News/Fairfax know about and are not talking about.
It’s no different from the Ford company at
Geelong not telling their workers until the
morning that they shut shop – but the workers knew for a long time and didn’t do
anything about it (like leave and find another job).
We don’t have to like what is happening but we can’t stop the locomotive and it is
bearing down on us all.
ANF – why don’t you take on a test case
for a newsagency for compensation for their loss of investment through no fault
of their own. If a precedent was set maybe the newsagents who are being made redundant could at least get a redundancy package (probably not because they are self employed but it is worth a try).
David and Goliath indeed!
I disagree with you MArk, I believe they do owe us something . We built them to what they are today with out us they would be nothing .stop selling papers in all newsagencys tomorrow and see what happens in newspapers world . Hmmmm I think they might just want some compensation. With out those printing presses going there is not a great deal of news getting out and hence no dollars for the owners .
I agree with June.
Unless we have a test case or class action for compensation for the loss of value to our businesses (our run/territory WAS worth around $150,000 in goodwill), we will never know.
News Limited is commandeering our assets / territories to save themselves huge amounts in distribution costs. If distribution was really profitable they would do it themselves surely!
Furthermore, the costs and logistics of setting up and operating a run for 10,000 papers per day are enormous. And News Limited has now set a precedent for cancelling contracts at their whim, so there is no guarantee that a 5 year delivery contract will last full term.
We can’t just roll over and die. ANF, you must do what you we pay membership for. Represent us.
Otherwise the only small leverage we have available to use against Goliath is the intimate details of our runs.
By the way, we were actually told today that one large Brisbane newsagent hadn’t even read the documents from News yet!
I don’t think all newsagents fully understand what is going on.
The implications haven’t been spelled out by any Association I hear from.
Come on ANF, let’s hear what you plan to do for us.
My Association is not happy with the way I have been treated, I am the only member of my association. I am in deep discussions with myself, I need to make room to make better commission on other items due to unethical behaviour in my view by News Limited. If this company tries to reduce my commission to 12.5% I have chosen the magazines I need to cull to introduce high profit margins to offset this unethical behaviour.
Australian Golf Digest
•GQ
•Vogue Australia
•MasterChef
•Australian Good Taste
•delicious
•Super Food Ideas
•donna hay magazine
•Country Style
•Gardening Australia
•Inside Out
•Vogue Living
Shaun from a social responsibility perspective I agree with you. Brin a legal and commercial perspective I do not agree.
Derek I do see that this was the case years ago, back in 1991 when John Howard pushed through deregulation, maybe we could make the case.
News didn’t create the situation or circumstances. I’m not here to run their defence. They are making a commercial move and newsagents need to respond commercially.
If we were going to act on the issue of goodwill this should have happened twelve years ago.
June, while I am no lawyer, I have discussed this very issue at length with lawyers and barristers. The advice I have been given, some years ago now, is that there are no grounds for compensation given how deregulation was handled. You know who to blame for that.
Mark – It is just so frustrating. I do hope that people can see what is happenning.
I have no hesitation in responding commercially.
Derek, please know there are retail newsagents out there that understand your frustration, while retail only agents have nothing to lose from runs being consolidated from a goodwill point of view (including Mark’s) as their bottom line are not affected there are huge numbers of newsagents that have their family homes at stake.
We are lucky enough to have sold our runs a few years back but I have family that were not so lucky and look to loose (on paper) hundreds of thousands when and if it comes time to sell as they paid for a business inclusive of runs but now have a business without a large portion of goodwill through no fault of their own.
As Mark states no one else gives a shit and the deal is done but that still does not make it right.
Luke
I do appreciate comment 35, I just cannot believe that this would be allowed to happen. Exactly it does seem in todays world so many things are done in that does not make it right.
But we saw this coming years ago. Plenty of newsagents acted.
This is why I blame the state associations. They should have been beating the drum about this from five or six years ago.
Yes exactly Mark, you are 100% right.
However it is the way it is being done which has got me fired up. Distribution runs needed to make money however instead of addressing increased revenue, they are taking 12.5% commission of Newsagents to fund a fairer rate for the eventual distributors of Newspapers.
If I took 12.5% of my employees if I had any to prop up my wage I am certain that their Union would quickly come stand up for my employees.
NANA has now advised a Cooks tour of Metropolitan and Country areas starting August 1 through to October 4. Fees 10$ a head for NANA members and $40 a head for non NANA members. I find this charge particularly for members a disgrace. See NANA website or follow link from ANF email NEWSFLASH. After all why do members pay fees. All NANA members are also about to be slugged $15 a month extra to allow a fighting fund for legal fees (the fighting fund does make sense though, meeting fees for members do not).
Mark
We didn’t own a newsagency in 1999. We bought ours seven years ago. What happened back then and since and laying blame is irrelevant to me.
What is important is how we as an industry respond now. And the obvious vehicle to respond is our agent-funded representative body the ANF.
I understand that change is needed. And this won’t be the last change.
News Limited needs newsagents and we need them.
They have made a calculated decision probably at board level, to cancel contracts and wear the risk of alienating the channel. A simple cost / benefit analysis for them.
They chose to save money and call our bluff knowing that we are not a strong and united industry. Low risk. Why not start in Queensland? We have so many public servants being laid off now that our problems won’t rate as a major issue for public sympathy.
This debate should not be about whether 2,000 or 10,000 or 20,000 papers is a good-sized area or whether the model will suit all geographic locations. That will sort itself out in time as we work through it with News. For now, it is a smokescreen distracting from the financial issue.
This debate must be about News Limited not paying fair compensation for resumed property.
Imagine the uproar if a State Government passed an Act to resume 2,000 homes to build a new super-highway and refused to pay any compensation to the home owners!
News Limited is resuming our territories to build a super distribution system and refuses to pay any compensation to the territory owners.
I doubt that anyone from the ANF or QNF reads this blog, so I will ask them what they are doing for us.
Mark,
This is why I blame the state associations. They should have been beating the drum about this from five or six years ago.
How apt that you mention state associations and beating the drum in one sentence.
Given that a drum is typically a large vessel with no guts and is only good for making noise by belting its thin skin I see the relationship quite clearly.
As Thomas says, some of us weren’t in this game in 1999 but it is definitely the role of the ANF (our national drum) to act but given their abysmal track record in the past and embarassing performance to date on distribution, I can’t see News Ltd losing any sleep over them.
For a whole host of reasons state associations need to stop running interference and leave it to the ANF but once again, private agendas will no doubt prevail.
Jim,
My issue with the associations on this is poor communication over the last two or three years.
The only step the associations could have taken since 1999 would have been greater disclosure through new newsagent training.
That said, any reasonable due diligence would have uncovered the risk associated with newspaper distribution contracts.
The harsh reality is that the buyer is responsible for what they know at the time of their business purchase.
We are fighting T2020 because T2020 destroys the value of our newsagencies and leaves newsagents with no security.
I am enthusiastic about VANA”s “Love Your Newsagent” campaign. I will even extend it to loving Mark Fletcher.
Yet sadly Mark completely misses why so many newsagents and their true friends like Ian Wollermann and Bernard Zimmermann of Pos Solutions are so upset.
The issue is very simple!
When Steve Kaye came to see me last Tuesday, 14th August, he could see the point, even if Mark Fletcher cannot or will not see it.
Even though News Limited, HWT and Steven Kaye talk about “retail” newsagents, Steven Kaye admits that such businesses will have very little resale value unless the newspaper publishers come to the rescue.
I have twice personally challenged Steven Kaye to shed his bed and to come out to the area of the very large City of Manningham at 3.00 a.m. and check out how the newspaper distribution here. Steven will see for himself that the newsagents and their staffs are doing “gold medal” jobs distributing and home delivering the newspapers. All the many newsagents are keeping their contracts to HWT and delivering very professionally and giving a great service to their customers.
What have we newsagents done wrong that we are being absolutely gutted and left with no security?
Why is a model which is working well in Melbourne being smashed by people working out of Sydney?
I agree there have been and are problems in other states. This is no justification for total war on Victorian newsagents!
Come on Victorian newsagents. Now is the hour to stand up for your rights and fight for justice.
Our specific aim has been, is and will be to keep our territories in Victoria as they are.
Take a good look at the postings on “NEWSAGENTS FIGHT FOR DELIVERIES” which is our page on Facebook.
You are always welcome to phone me directly at our shop:
BULLEEN PLAZA NEWS
SHOP 29, BULLEEN PLAZA
MANNINGHAM ROAD
BULLEEN VIC 3105
TEL: 03 9850 5521
We shall overcome
Cheers
Eugene Ahern
Eugene,
The Love your newsagent campaign, based on the newsXpress love your newsagent campaign which was released first and for which VANA apologised, is nice but misdirected.
You’re entitled to your view on T2020 as am I.
Stephen Kaye is probably best at representing himself and News.
Ian Wollermann and bernard Zimmermann, while connected to the channel, are not newsagents or newspaper publishers and therefore somewhat disconnected from the issues here. That said, they can make their own case too.
If consolidated territories are so bad, why is Victoria leading the country on consolidated territories. Further, why did Victoria lead the channel on the need for consolidated territories as far back as six and seven years ago.
I was against T2020 for close to two years. The model now being pursued is economically sound and fair for newsagents in my view. I came to that view after fully considering the plans and the alternative.
I urge newsagents to engage in debate on this … but reasoned debate based on facts and not emotions.
Natalie (#8), you could not have heard the ANF CEO interviewed by Ross Greenwood as he was overseas at the time and not involved in any interview.
Apologies Mark, it was Mr Lim the CEO of Nana. But given they have “unified” thought it was much of the same title really.
Look it up. Very disappointing! not much support for the Newsagent there.
Yes you are correct, it was poorly constructed sentence.
It was Mr Lim I believe the CEO of NANA.
Although they have “unified” obviously the “title” still matters.
I phoned in to challenge his statements and his lack of support for newsagents, had the panel operator agreeing with my rage but unfortunately they only had 3 minutes left of his show.
look it up, a very poor interview from someone in his position who is meant to be supporting ME
Natalie, there is a big difference between them.
T2020 is a national issue. The states should hand it to the ANF.
Very true Mark.. And that was even more evident by the poor interview.
ANF have begun sending out spurts of information so I will see how serious they are about it and if they show strong leadership I will rejoin.
Thanks for providing this forum for open discussion and feedback.
Natalie,
What day was the interview between Mr Lim and Ross Greenwood as I can`t find it
Garry,
It would have been a Thursday 12th I am pretty sure (as it was shortly after it was announced) or the 19th..
I am certain of the Thursday as I was on my way to my Karate class – and it made me nice and wound up before I arrived!
I will google for it shortly – after serving customers.
Garry,
I really shouldnt blog in between serving customers! Had the wrong month!
Pretty sure was August 9 as it was a Thursday. I have sent a request off to 2GB to enquire if they taped it.
Hopefully Mark can delete the above post so as not to confuse others..
Thomas (40) is right: “This debate must be about News Limited not paying fair compensation for resumed property”. But we can go on about injustice, but to them it is a measure of there success. They derive kudos from all such talk.
Even if we were able to mount some legal case on grounds of being unconscionable, when would all this come to court? At a time when we have walked away from our shops and dispersed far and wide.
Our best option is to press for a modified model where the people bidding for regional run buy the run from the newsagents. They in turn will take this investment into account when they make their bids. Of course, such “offers to buy” would be contingent on the bidder obtaining the contract.
This is sensible plan that has the best chance of success and is fair to every body. It is a plan that has the best chance of getting News’ agreement. If they do not agree, then we are in the best position possible in a legal disput; that is, we were constructive and argued for a plan that recognized the problems and from the beginning worked for a solution.
here is a comment from WA newsagent on the T2020 changes. A comment he posted yesterday (http://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/2012/08/25/frustrated-with-allday-distribution/ ) in response to my post about All Day Distribution. I am posting the comment here as it is relevant to the T2020 thread:
Hi Mark,
Like many of my state colleagues we are solely a Distribution Newsagency and I agree with what you are saying.
In the situation you have described, for a Distribution Newsagent to have such an attitude is just plain wrong and is a clear case of someone enjoying the ill-gotten gains from a conflict of interest situation.
Perhaps contact with the various publishers of the foreign language newspapers may lead to pressure being applied to Allday Distribution to ensure the product gets to where sales may be optimised, instead of a situation where a local minor distributor is imposing his own brand of restrictions/limitations on the publishers product for his own gains. Why does he do it – because he can, and that’s why the distribution system as it currently stands is wrong.
I think News Ltd is spot on in moving to separate distribution from retail. The faster this is achieved the better. Whilst it may not help you to get a quick outcome, possibly this leading change by a major publisher will have a multiplying effect on others in the Print Media.
I also provide a delivery service to a retail Newsagency that is located in a shopping centre and of course I never even think about not supplying them to their fullest satisfaction. Why – because that’s what I do for a living.
It’s a bit off topic, but frankly I can’t quite imagine how the ‘basket case’ distribution newsagency (Home Deliveries & Retail newspapers) system in the eastern states works from an economic point of view where you have far too many Newsagents throwing too few papers to too small an area. Having said that, I am aware that some combined Newsagencies (Dist & Retail) worked that out some time ago and did something about it.
Regarding the trade restrictions being imposed upon you, I wish you well and would encourage you to ‘go your hardest’ on this unfair situation.
Dennis Robertson