archant annual report 2011static.archant.s3.amazonaws.com/media/pdfs/ara2011.pdf · 11 18 19 12 13...

ARCHANT ANNUAL REPORT 2011A

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L REPORT 2011

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Commercial Person of the Year Denise EversAdvertising sales manager,Archant Life

Customer Service Person of the Year Rebecca Nelson-Enes 1Customer service manager,Archant Life

Editorial Person of the Year Steve Bodycomb Group design editor,Archant London

Support Person of the Year Jane BerryHR officer,Archant Suffolk

New Media Person of the Year James Parfitt 2Group digital developmentmanager,Archant Specialist

Unsung Hero of the Year Barbara Coker 3Marketing and distributionmanager, Archant KOS Media

Green Person of the Year Anna Turns 4Devon Life staff writer, Archant Life

Employee of the Year Steve Philp 5County sales team leader,Archant Norfolk

Best Use of New Media Digital TeamArchant SpecialistMarianne Bainvel 6,Media sales executive

Innovation of the Year Business and Professional Life Cotswold Life, Archant LifeKaren Cross 7Regional sales manager

Printed Product of the Year Royal Ascot MagazineArchant DialogueSam Overton 8Advertising directorAndy Grant 9Advertising salesKay Brown 10Advertising production controllerShakiba McCormick 11Advertising production

Team of the Year New Revenue Solutions TeamArchant South WestRachel Tester 12Media sales executiveNicky Lowndes 13Training and developmentmanagerEmily Farrington 14Media sales executiveLynn Carpenter 15Media sales executiveStacey Hughes 16Assistant advertisement managerLisa Bengey 17Media sales executive

Also shown in the photo:Highly commended, Best Use of New MediaHOG integrated digitalprogrammeTom Smith 18Phil Sumner 19Adam Browning 20

Cover photo: Some of the 2011 Archant Award winners

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Archant Award Winners 2o11

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4 Chairman’s statement 6 Chief Executive’s report 8 Financial review

12 Directors and officers 15 Celebrating Archant’s people and products 31 Report and financial statements 32 Report of the directors38 Directors’ remuneration report 45 Independent auditor’s report 46 Group profit and loss account47 Group statement of total recognised

gains and losses47 Group reconciliation of movements

in shareholders’ funds 48 Balance sheets 49 Group statement of cash flows 50 Notes to the financial statements 85 Five-year financial summary 87 Notice of Annual General Meeting88 Financial calendar

Archant LimitedAnnual report 2o11

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

www.archant.co.uk 3

03-11 Chairman-CEO-FD.qxp:ARA 2007 DUMMY DESIGNS 5/3/12 13:02

Operating cash flow remained strong at£13.1m (2010: £13.7m) and net debt at theend of the year was further reduced to£17.4m (2010: £23.3m). Bank interest costof £1.6m was covered 6.3 times byoperating profit before amortisation andexceptional items; interest paid of £1.4mwas covered 9.5 times by cash generatedfrom operating activities. With this level ofcover the Board remains comfortable withthe level of debt and is confident that thefacilities available to the Group at £44.0mprovide sufficient working capital to enableit to continue to operate and to pursue ourdevelopment plans.

Adjusted earnings per share, as ameasure of underlying performance, fell32.7% to 43.1p (2010: 64.0p).

Shareholders and dividendsAt the half year I explained that the interimdividend was being held at the same levelas 2010 and that further considerationwould be given to the level of dividend for the full year once the final position wasknown. In the event, given the full yearoutcome and the ongoing need for cautionin the use of cash, the Board will proposeat the Annual General Meeting that thefinal dividend for 2011 be held at 13.7p(2010: 13.7p). If approved the dividend will be paid on 20 April 2012 and, togetherwith the interim dividend of 6.4p paid inOctober 2011, the total dividend for 2011will be 20.1p (2010: 20.1p) per share.

The Board looks forward to the timewhen growth in the business and confidencein the future make it possible to raise thedividend.

During the year some 157,000 shareswere traded through the Matched BargainFacility at prices in the range £5.00 to£1.50. The number of shares traded on theFacility reduced significantly in the latterpart of the year as certain Archant sharescheme trusts, having no need foradditional shares, withdrew from themarket and few other buyers emerged.

We continued our programme of

StrategyThe media landscape in which we operatechanges ever more rapidly as new businessmodels proliferate, exploiting new digitalopportunities. In common with much ofprint based media, the pricing power ofour traditional business has been eroded.With greater choice available to customersand with advertisers able to target theirmarkets with ever greater precision, it isessential that we continue to develop aculture of intense market focus, that werecruit and train our employees to makethe satisfying of customers’ needs the keyobjective, that we drive relentlessly forimproved content and delivery, and thatwe focus on our key attribute of localness.Throughout the reports that follow youwill see how we are repositioning theGroup and evidence of the enthusiasmand initiative with which the managementand staff are embracing these challenges.

ResultsAs I noted in my interim statement, theGroup expected to deliver better results inthe second half of the year than in the first.In the first half, operating profit beforeamortisation, impairment and exceptionalitems at £2.6m was down £4.4m, on turnoverdown 4.0%. I am pleased to report thatoperating profit grew between July andDecember by 1.6% to £7.8m (2010: £7.7m),on turnover down 2.0% at £67.8m (2010: £69.2m).

For the full year, Group operating profitbefore amortisation and exceptional costs at £10.4m was down 29.4% (2010: £14.8m)on turnover down 3.0% at £135.1m (2010: £139.3m).

In this trading environment balancingcost savings with the need to invest forfuture growth is a constant challenge.Despite high inflation generally, a 24%increase in the price of newsprint and after significant investment in training and business development, total operatingcosts were flat year on year, at £124.6m(2010: £124.5m).

❝One day theeconomic cyclewill move torecovery andwhen it does so, we will be in a strongposition to takeadvantage of it❞

Chairman’s statement

Despite very difficult trading conditions your Group has

continued to invest significantly, both in revenue and in

capital, to pursue its strategy of developing a customer-

centric, multimedia organisation. With little or no support

foreseeable from the economy, it is the actions of the

management that will enable your business to take

advantage of new and emerging revenue streams whilst

optimising the existing business.

RICHARD JEWSON, CHAIRMAN

meetings with shareholders during the yearand we are reassured by the continuedsupport and enthusiasm shown for thestrategies being put in place. The chiefexecutive also undertook an annual roundof face-to-face briefings, with all membersof staff invited, many of whom are alsoshareholders, to ensure they are fullybriefed on the progress and initiatives that are taking place in the business.

The AGM will again be held at TheConference Centre at the John InnesCentre in Norwich on Tuesday 17 April2012. There is only routine business beingbrought to the meeting this year and theBoard looks forward to welcoming as manyshareholders as may be able to attend themeeting.

Highlights and industryA significant aspect of 2011 has been therestructuring of the way the business ismanaged. The simple principle has beento de-clutter lines of responsibility and toensure that operational management is

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ANNUAL REPORT 2011

market-focused and supported by backoffice functions that are appropriatelymanaged and resourced.

We now trade as three principal marketfocused trading divisions: Archant Angliaunder Johnny Hustler as managing director;Archant London under its managingdirector Will Hattam; and Archant Lifestyleunder its managing director Miller Hogg.Importantly, the creation of a businessdevelopment division under Serge Taborin,who spoke at last year’s AGM, has providedadditional focus for this critical activityand ensured that it is more removed fromthe constraints of day-to-day operationalmanagement. A number of new initiativeshave begun to be delivered inconsequence.

Achieving industry leading circulationgrowth in the second half of 2011 in allfour of our daily and all five of our Norfolkweekly titles is significant, not onlybecause it is unique amongst the currentregional press but also a tribute to thestrength of many of the titles we publish.

Achieved through a combination of giving readers what they want and usinginnovative marketing and distributiontechniques, this performance bucksindustry trends and I congratulate allthose involved in this notable success.

We have appointed Dee Willmott to thenewly created position of director of humanresources, recognising the importance ofrecruiting, developing and retaining adiverse pool of talented staff. Initially, and in particular, real progress is beingachieved in refocusing our sales forces on their respective markets and bringingmore structured techniques to salesmanagement. A number of importantsenior appointments have been made, aswe reposition the business, and we areencouraged by the quality of applicantswho are keen to join us from a wide rangeof diverse, but relevant, backgrounds.

During the year we made significantprogress in the consolidation of all backoffice support activities into ProspectHouse under Nick Schiller, director of

operations. The creation of functions ofscale enables greater productivity andimproved customer service throughleverage of investment in systems andprocesses.

We continue to monitor the unfoldingsituation at the Leveson Enquiry andthank those from Archant who haveattended to represent the interests of the regional press and to differentiate it from some of the behaviours beingdemonstrated by elements of the nationalpress. It is important shareholders know,in this regard, that we believe that noArchant journalist has intentionally brokenthe Press Complaints Commission’s Codeof Conduct whilst in our employment. Wesee a change in the regulatory environmentas inevitable, but there seems to be littleappetite for this to be enforced by agovernment regulatory body. We will striveto ensure that whatever the outcome, thisdoes not distance us from our localcommunities.

Staff and BoardAgain the Board extends their gratitudeand appreciation to the staff of Archantwho have continued to demonstrate theirdedication throughout the year. Thestructural changes I have described andthe continual need to drive costs downhave inevitably meant we have had to saygoodbye to some of our people and wewish them well for the future.

In February 2012 we announced theappointment of Sonita Alleyne as a non-executive director and she will bestanding for election at the forthcomingAGM. Sonita brings a wealth of mediaexperience and her full biographicaldetails are set out on page 13. I hope thatshareholders will take the opportunity tomeet her at the AGM.

OutlookWe have built our business plans on anexpectation of marginal growth in the UKeconomy in 2012. It is difficult to think thatthere is much upside to such a forecast, andof course sufficient uncertainties exist inthe world that may lead to a much worseoutcome.

On the other hand we are executing the plans we have in place for improvingmarket share in our core markets, we haveconfidence that we can maintain the costefficiencies already achieved, and weexpect continued growth of revenuestreams from new business. Absent furtherdeterioration in the trading background,we would expect 2011 to have been thelow point for the Group in this recession.

One day the economic cycle will moveto recovery and when it does so, we willbe in a strong position to take advantageof it.

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continued to grow with an increase of 32%in unique visitors overall and an increase of116% for our mobile optimised sites.

Strategy implementationThere are five key areas of focus in theimplementation of our strategy. Customerscome first and considerable effort has beenput into embedding customer focus ineverything we do. At one extreme we havecompletely realigned our managementstructure along geographic market lines tomatch the markets that we serve. We haveincreased our marketing resource tounderstand better the needs of our audienceand clients, building on the foundationsthat were laid last year. Our Specialistmagazine division has launched websites for our readers to buy and manage theirmagazine subscriptions as well as singlecopies of magazines. This service, whichhas now been adopted by titles across thewhole Group, has generated magazine salesof over £1m since its launch, many of themto customers outside the UK.

The second area of focus is local. Ourrelationships with our audiences and clientsare all fostered and built at local level andthis is one of the key characteristics that sets us apart from national media firms. Our newspapers and most of our magazineshave always been locally focused butadvances in technology in mobile phonesand tablet computers now make it possibleto know where people are actuallyphysically located as they consume ourcontent. This opens up a wide range ofcommercial opportunities that were notpreviously available. In January welaunched London24, a new website forpeople in London. Audience growth hasbeen rapid and the site now regularlyreaches over half a million people a month. Our real-time interactive bloggingtechnology provided continual hyper-localnews over a 14-hour period during theLondon riots in August and was latercomplimented by the Metroplitan Police for the service it had provided.

IN 2011 WE continued to invest in thedevelopment of our digital products andservices resulting in a number of newlaunches in the second half of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

The economy was very weak throughoutwith a marked deterioration towards theend of the year. We do not believe thatthere will be a material improvement ineconomic conditions in the short term andare therefore taking steps to generategrowth despite the economy.

Turnover for the year was down £4.2m(3.0%) at £135.1m. The revenue from ournewspaper business shrank by 4.8% whilstmagazines produced 0.7% growth. The rateof decline slowed in the second half of theyear to 2.0% from 4.0% as sales performancestarted to improve.

Operating costs were flat despite highinflation with newsprint prices in particulargrowing by over 24%. A number ofproductivity improvements wereimplemented during the year generatingannualised savings in excess of £2.5m aswell as better customer service. We will seethe full benefit of these changes in 2012.

Operating profit before amortisation andexceptional items decreased by £4.4m to£10.4m for the full year. All of this reductionwas in the first half of the year and operatingprofits stabilised relative to last year in thesecond half.

Net debt was reduced by £5.9m duringthe year, an excellent performance in lightof the difficult trading conditions.

A major simplification of the Group’s legal entity structure was completed in thefourth quarter in order to align legal andmanagement structures and reduceadministration costs. The cost of this,together with increased restructuringactivity, resulted in an increase of £1.6m in exceptional costs.

The latest ABC results show that thecirculation performance of our four dailypapers and our weekly papers outsideLondon continued to deliver industry-leading growth. Our online audience also

Chief Executive’s report

However customer- and local-focused weare, we still need to deliver products andservices that surprise and delight all ourcustomers. The third plank of the strategyis therefore to develop existing and newproducts to match the changing needs ofour customers. Examples of this include ourgroup buying business with its two onlinebrands, Tickles and 40Winks, which provideour audience with opportunities to buyproducts and services at a significantdiscount whilst helping our clients to sellspare capacity or stock and to attract newcustomers. In the traditional business this is exemplified by the redesign of all ournewspapers in London by an award-winning designer to provide a moreattractive design and better content.Online, we relaunched our propertyclassified advertising site, homes24, in Marchin partnership with Zoopla. This providesboth estate agents and house buyers withbetter functionality and house buyers withmore houses. Zoopla is in the process ofmerging with DMGT’s Digital PropertyGroup and the new, enlarged business willprovide a serious challenge to the largestUK property portal, Rightmove. We alsorelaunched our car classified advertisingsite, drive24. The new site uses technologyprovided by Motors.co.uk, part of DMGT,and as a result we are now part of thesecond largest car advertising site in the UKafter Autotrader. The homes24 and drive24partnerships both provide us with increasedsales opportunities and better technology ata lower cost.

Data is the media gold of the future andforms the fourth element of the strategy.The collection and interpretation ofaudience data not only helps us to producebetter products ourselves but can also beused to provide better services to ourclients. Digital media make data collectionmuch easier, but traditional print media,properly managed and used together withsimple digital elements such as SMS textmessaging and QR codes, can also providesignificant insight. An independentfurniture retailer that had stoppedadvertising with us has been attracted backby the potential of these techniques and hassubsequently seen a significant increase inhis sales. We launched a number of newmobile services during the fourth quarterwhich not only generate revenue in theirown right but are beginning to provide uswith data which gives us an insight into theinterests and behaviour of tightly definedgroups of customers.

The final element of the strategy relatesto the embedding of a performance cultureacross the Group. We have improved ourrecruitment processes and have introduceda new appraisal and development system toensure that we measure and reward goodperformance whilst identifying anddeveloping new talent. We have also

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2o11 was a year of change. In the first half we made

significant changes to our management structure,

aligning it with the markets and communities that we

service and upgrading our commercial management.

A major revamp of our sales activities was launched

in the second half of the year and this is now beginning

to deliver significant benefits.

ADRIAN JEAKINGS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE


Mare in July. The new operation handlesprint and digital advertising production.The majority of the staff is based inNorwich allowing us to draw on the pool ofskilled design graduates from local collegesand universities. The creation of the newoperation has been facilitated by theimplementation of an advertising workflowsystem, Adflow, using generic workflowsoftware. This software is now beingapplied to processes in other areas ofactivity across the Group. The combinationof the workflow software and theconcentration of design skills will enable us to offer better customer service and morecreative advertisement designs as well assaving costs.

The roll-out of our content managementsystem to all of our magazines is completeand additional benefits from the system arenow becoming apparent.

We have made significant progress inrationalising our IT infrastructure, providingincreased resilience at lower cost. We havecreated mirrored data centres in Norwichand London for our core operations andupgraded our wide area network andremote user access. This means that we can

continue to operate all our systems if any ofour offices are put out of action.Theoretically, as far as the technology isconcerned, we could run the entire Groupwith everyone working from home. All ofthis has been achieved whilst significantlyreducing the cost of telecommunications.

IndustryThe Leveson Enquiry has been in theheadlines for some time now. The activitiesof certain elements of the national presshave tarred the whole newspaper industryand there is a material risk that we willsuffer both increased costs and impairedpress freedom as a result. We are as certainas we can be that no Archant journalist hasintentionally broken the Press ComplaintsCommission’s Code of Conduct whilst in our employ and adherence to the code iswritten into our contracts of employmentfor editorial staff. Several of our senioreditorial staff have been asked to submitwritten evidence or have appeared beforethe enquiry. We are a community mediabusiness and the respect and trust of thosein the communities that we serve areessential if we are to succeed, recognisingthat there may be differing views on anygiven issue.

There are no signs of the long-awaitedconsolidation of the regional press industry.There does not appear to have been anychange in the stance of the competitionauthorities as illustrated by the OFT’srecent referral of the Kent Messenger’sattempted acquisition of some loss-makingtitles from Northcliffe to the CompetitionCommission despite it receiving a greenlight from Ofcom. The cost of a CompetitionCommission enquiry is prohibitive for smalltransactions and the delay can destroysignificant value in the target business.

The government’s dream of localtelevision is on the way to becoming realitywith the selection of twenty cities for a pilotscheme including Norwich and London.We are involved in bids for the licences inboth cities.

OutlookThe economic outlook is not clear.Eventually things will improve but it seemslikely that in the UK, at least, we will bumpalong with very low GDP growth for sometime to come. What happens in theEurozone is impossible to forecast, but theuncertainty is not helpful to business orconsumer confidence.

We cannot therefore rely on externalstimuli to drive our growth and we willcontinue to invest in developments that we believe will generate growth despite theeconomic gloom. There are early signs thatthese are beginning to bear fruit and thiswill put us in a strong position to grow profitwhen the economy does begin to improve.

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

increased our focus on training, in particularin sales with the launch of the Archant SalesAcademy. This involves the assessment ofevery salesperson in Archant, from telesalesthrough to commercial directors, against abenchmark ‘perfect’ sales person and thecreation and delivery of personalised salesskills development plans. This has beenpiloted in Norfolk, where it has already hada positive impact on revenue, and will berolled out across the Group in 2012.

ProductivityWe have made further progress inoptimising our back office functions in2011. In July we outsourced the printing of many of our weekly newspapers to anindependent printer, Newsfax. Thisgenerated immediate cash benefits as well as providing more resilience for ournewspaper printing and would not havebeen possible without the investment inadditional capacity at Thorpe in recent years.The Norfolk and Suffolk papers continue tobe printed at our press in Thorpe.

We also completed the consolidation ofour advertising production operations intotwo centres in Norwich and Weston-super-

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We want customersto be at the heart ofeverything we do


THE ECONOMY WAS weak throughout 2011,inflation exceeded five per cent for muchof the year, economic growth was slow ornegative, and consumer confidence dipped,exacerbated by uncertainties across theEurozone. Against this background, thecompany had a difficult first half of theyear, with a recovery – and profit growth – in the second half. The Group continuedto invest in growing new business areasthroughout the year. Cash performancewas strong, despite the reduction in profit,and net debt closed £5.9m lower than theprior year, after paying dividends of £2.8m,pension deficit reduction contributions of£1.5m and net interest payments of £1.3m.

Revenue at £135.1m (2010: £139.3m)was £4.2m (3.0%) lower than 2010.Operating profit before amortisation andimpairment of intangible assets andexceptional items fell by £4.4m (29.4%) to£10.4m (2010: £14.8m). Profit was higherthan 2010 in the second half of the year,after a difficult first half as a result of thechallenging economic times coupled withsubstantial cost increases, particularly inrelation to newsprint and magazine paperprices, and pension costs.

Challenging

economic times.

BRIAN MCCARTHY, FINANCE DIRECTOR

Financial review

Despite this, total operating costs in the business were only marginally higher,£0.2m or 0.2%. Newsprint prices rose 24%over the previous year which, togetherwith slightly lower increases in the priceof magazine paper, increased our costs byjust under £3.0m. We made no pay awardin 2011, but continued to invest in peopleto develop new business streams, providinga springboard for growth in the future.

2011 saw substantial change in thestructure of the business, with newleadership in Anglia, London and acrossLifestyle. A major reorganisation of thelegal structure was completed in Novemberto reduce the number of companies in theGroup, simplifying operations and reducingcompliance costs. All trading is now carriedout through a single operating subsidiary,Archant Community Media Limited.

Operating profit before amortisation andexceptional costs in the second half of theyear was three times higher than the firsthalf at £7.8m, and also represented a 1.6%improvement on second half profit year-on-year. The rate of revenue decline was2.0% in the second half of the year,compared to 4.0% in the first half.

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❝The Grouphas continuedto invest ingrowing newbusinessareas❞

Exceptional costs grew from £1.5m to£3.1m. These costs represent £2.5m ofoperational restructuring and £0.6mrelating to the restructuring of the grouplegal entity structure in November 2011.This legal restructuring had delivered acash payback by the end of February 2012.

Interest payable at £1.6m was £0.2mlower than 2010 as net debt fell, withinterest rates largely unchanged duringthe year.

A £0.1m charge (2010: £0.4m) is shownas other finance expense in the profit andloss account. This arises from the expectedreturn on pension scheme assets relativeto the interest charge on scheme liabilitiesunder the FRS 17 accounting standard.

The tax charge on profits for the yearwas £2.5m (2010: £1.3m) and the loss forthe year after tax was £1.5m, after 2010’sprofit of £4.5m.

Adjusted earnings per share, whichreflect the underlying performance of thebusiness, were down 20.9p (32.7%) at43.1p, whilst basic earnings per share fellto a loss per share of 10.6p from 32.0pprofit per share in 2010.

2011 2010 change£m £m £m

Group revenue 135.1 139.3 (4.2)Operating costsStaff costs 55.9 55.5 0.4 Other costs 68.8 69.0 (0.2)Total operating costs1 124.7 124.5 0.2 Operating profit1 10.4 14.8 (4.4)Amortisation and impairment (4.6) (5.1) 0.5 Net exceptional items (3.1) (1.5) (1.6)Operating profit 2.7 8.2 (5.5)Share of operating results in associate 0.0 (0.2) 0.2 Interest payable (1.6) (1.8) 0.2 Other finance expense (0.1) (0.5) 0.4 Profit before tax 1.0 5.7 (4.7)Taxation (2.5) (1.3) (1.2)(Loss)/profit after tax (1.5) 4.4 (5.9)Net debt 17.4 23.3 5.91Excluding exceptional items, amortisation and impairment


ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Operating costs at £84.4m (2010: £85.1m)were down £0.7m (0.8%), maintaining thecost savings generated in 2010. Savings inemployment costs were achieved througha reduction in full-time equivalent staffnumbers of 13.5%. These savings wereoffset by a 24% increase in the price ofnewsprint and continuing investment inour digital capability.

Like-for-like operating profit was down40% at £5.5m (2010: £9.3m).

Magazines and contract publishingRevenues were £45.2m (2010: £44.9m), an increase of £0.3m (0.7%). Operatingprofit was £0.8m (14.0%) lower at £4.8m(2010: £5.6m).

During 2011 magazines continued togrow revenue in a challenging marketplace.Subscription sales fell by 0.9% and nowrepresent 56% of our paid-for circulationwhilst average revenue per copy increased.Copy sales through the newstrade continueto be difficult and expensive. Advertisingrevenue for property and display were flat year-on-year while motors and otherclassifieds suffered small declines.

Archant Life’s county revenues were up0.6% in 2011, with advertising revenues0.5% higher. Digital revenues alsoincreased, but overall circulation revenuesfell by 0.7%. Costs increased by 1.4%largely due to increased costs of paper.

The revenues for the Londonmagazines were up 2.0% in 2011, withadvertising revenues 0.3% higher. Digitaland other revenues also increased. Costsincreased by 1.2% principally on printingand paper costs as paginations increased.

Archant Specialist revenues were down2.8% with advertising revenues down4.5%. Circulation revenues fell by 4.4%,with the biggest challenges presented bycopy sales through high street outlets.Digital and other revenues both increased.The aviation and lifestyle portfolios bothposted year-on-year growth in revenuewith the imaging and shooting titles, inparticular, proving challenging in acompetitive marketplace. Costs were flatyear-on-year with savings in employmentcosts offset by increases in other costs.

Dialogue revenues were up 15.8% in2011 but profits fell by 58.4% following thefailure of Saab and increased investment innew business development.

www.archant.co.uk 9

Net debt at the end of the year wasreduced by a quarter to £17.4m (2010:£23.3m) principally as a result of excellentworking capital performance. This resultwas achieved after capital expenditure of£1.8m and dividends of £2.8m. The Groupmaintains sufficient debt headroom fordevelopment opportunities and is operatingwell within its banking covenants.

Summary of divisional operating resultsThe revenue and operating profit beforeamortisation, impairment and exceptionalitems were:

Turnover Operating profit2011 2010 2011 2010

£m £m £m £m

Newspapers & printing 89.9 94.4 5.5 9.3

Magazines & contract

publishing 45.2 44.9 4.8 5.6

Common costs - - 0.1 (0.1)

135.1 139.3 10.4 14.8 ➝

Key performance indicators (KPIs)The key financial and non-financialperformance indicators for the Groupinclude revenue, operating profit,operating margin, advertising volumes,circulation including the proportion ofmagazines sold through subscriptions, webtraffic, digital revenue and net debt. TheGroup seeks to target performance in linewith or ahead of competitors. Details ofthe Group’s performance against therelevant KPIs for each division areincluded in the respective sections below.

Newspapers and printingDuring the year like-for-like newspaperand printing revenues fell by £4.5m (4.8%)to £89.9m (2010: £94.4m). All categories of advertising revenue suffered declines in 2011, with recruitment in particularcontinuing its downward trend in our print publications. The rate of decline inadvertising revenue slowed during theyear, with revenues down 13.6% in thefirst quarter, falling to 4.8% in the fourthquarter.

Digital revenue declined by 2.5% overall,with growth in display revenue and e-editions offsetting small reductions inour ‘24’ brands and other revenue sources.

Advertising year-on-year

Full Year 1st Half 2nd Half

Recruitment (20.4%) (28.7%) (7.9%)

Property (5.2%) (6.5%) (3.7%)

Motors (7.4%) (6.7%) (8.1%)

Other Classified (9.9%) (13.1%) (6.3%)

Display (5.4%) (8.5%) (2.1%)

Leaflets & Other (16.0%) (12.4%) (19.6%)

All Advertising (8.8%) (12.2%) (4.9%)

Our circulation strategy has continued todeliver success. Paid-for circulationrevenues were up 1.6% with three of ourfour daily titles recording paid circulationvolume growth in the year with all fourshowing growth in their ABC numbers inthe second half of the year. Five out of sixweekly paid-for titles in East Anglia alsorecorded full year growth in circulationvolumes and our total paid-for weeklytitles outside London grew overall.

We continue to develop our digitalofferings with homes24 and drive24 both relaunched during 2011. Unique visitors to our newspaper and classified websitesgrew by 29.2% in the year to average overthree million visitors a month.


Financial review

Digital activityRevenue from online activities increasedby 0.9% to £5.7m, mainly driven byrevenue from e-editions of our products.Our classified vertical sites recorded acombined 1.4% decline in revenueprincipally due to a reduction in jobrelated advertising. Unique visitors to ourwebsites increased by 31.6%, and pageimpressions by 7.5%. Almost 3.7 millionpeople on average visit Archant websitesevery month.

Impairment of newspaper andmagazine intangible assetsThe Group is required to review thecarrying value of all its intangible assetsannually, to determine whether eitherevents or changes in circumstancesindicate that the carrying value may notbe recoverable. The carrying value isassessed by a number of measures –principally forecast cash flows – which arediscounted in line with the Group’s cost ofcapital. No impairment charge wasrequired in 2011.

Subsidiary and associatedcompaniesThe company holds a 50% investment inLocal Vouchers Limited, which trades asTickles and 40Winks, and a 66.6% stake inPlanningFinder Limited, which wasacquired for a nominal sum in April 2011.The results of these companies have beenconsolidated into the financial statementsand the minority interest reported afterloss from ordinary activities after taxation.

Exceptional itemsExceptional costs were £3.1m (2010:£1.5m, excluding impairment) in respectof the costs of restructuring the business,principally redundancy and office closurecosts, together with legal and professionalcosts in relation to the reorganisation ofthe group structure. The payback on thesecosts is less than six months on average.

TaxationThe financial statements include a tax charge of £2.5m (2010: £1.3m). The effective rate of taxation for the year was 249.7% (2010: 22.2%), and theeffective standard rate of tax was 26.5%(2010: 28%). The 2011 effective rate was higher than the standard rate dueprimarily to the large charge foramortisation of intangible assets and other costs that are not deductible for taxpurposes relative to pre-tax profit and adeferred tax charge due to the reductionsin rates of corporation tax. The 2010 taxcharge has been reduced by anexceptional credit of £1.9m relating to the favourable resolution of certain taxmatters accrued for in previous years.

Earnings per shareBasic earnings per share fell by 42.6p fromlast year’s earnings per share of 32.0p to aloss per share of 10.6p. Adjusted earningsper share fell by 20.9p (32.7%) to 43.1p.Adjusted earnings per share are consideredto be a better indicator of the underlyingperformance of the business and thedifference between basic and adjustedearnings per share is explained in moredetail in Note 11 to the financialstatements.

Dividends and dividend coverIt is proposed that a final dividend for2011 will be paid on 20 April 2012 at therate of 13.7p per share. The total dividendfor the year is 20.1p (2010: 20.1p). At thislevel the dividend would be covered 2.1times (2010: 3.2 times) by adjustedearnings per share.

Net debt and cash flowThe Group continues to be cashgenerative and operating cash flow at£13.1m (2010: £13.7m) was £0.6m lowerthan in 2010 mainly due to the reductionof £4.4m in operating profit, and higherrestructuring costs, offset by improvedworking capital performance. Conversionof profit into cash at 484% was againstrong (2010: 158%). Net debt at the endof the year was reduced by a quarter to£17.4m (2010: £23.3m). Movements in netdebt are summarised below:

2011 2010£m £m

Operating cash flow 13.1 13.7Net interest paid (1.3) (1.2)Tax paid (0.3) (1.7)Dividends paid (2.8) (2.8)Cash flow before acquisitions and capital expenditure 8.7 8.0Capital expenditure (1.8) (2.4)Acquisitions (0.1) (0.5)Share transactions (0.5) (0.3)Other (0.4) (0.6)Decrease in net debt 5.9 4.2

10 www.archant.co.uk

Group operating margin* %

15

.7

10.6

7.7

12.7

Group turnover £m142.0

175

.1

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Group operating profit* £m

14.8

10.4

15

.1

22.2

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

* before amortisation, impairment and exceptional items * before amortisation, impairment and exceptional items

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

193.8

139.3

135

.1

30.5

10.6


ANNUAL REPORT 2011

www.archant.co.uk 11

Capital expenditureCapital expenditure during the year was£1.8m (2010: £2.4m) which again relatedmainly to investment in IT hardware andsoftware development costs to improveoperating efficiency and system resilience.

Pension schemeThe triennial actuarial valuation completedin 2011 indicated that liabilities of theGroup’s pension scheme of £160.4m wereunder-funded by £13.3m as at 1 January2011. The Group made cash contributionstotalling £1.45m towards the reduction ofthis deficit in 2011 (2010: £1.45m). Thedeficit shown in the balance sheet wasdetermined using the FRS 17 accountingstandard. Under this standard, the definedbenefit scheme service cost in the profitand loss account has decreased by £0.2mto £1.3m and the deficit shown on thebalance sheet has grown by £11.2m, from£11.5m to £22.7m. The increase in thedeficit is a result of falling gilt yieldswhich have increased the present value of the liabilities. As the liabilities of thepension scheme are expected to fall dueover a period of more than 50 years andthe deficit is less than three years’ currentoperating profits before amortisation, thedeficit is not considered onerous.

Treasury management, associatedrisks and uncertaintiesThe Group currently derives its fundingfrom share capital, retained profits andbank borrowing. Cash is managedcentrally, and the Group’s treasuryobjective is to minimise borrowing costsand maximise returns on funds subject toshort-term liquidity requirements.

The main risks that the Group facesfrom its treasury activities are liquidityrisk and interest rate risk. The Group’sactivities are primarily in the UK and

there is minimal foreign currency risk. The Group’s liquidity risk arises from

timing differences between cash inflowsand outflows. These risks are managedthrough committed short-term and long-term credit facilities. Our policy is toensure continuity of funding andflexibility, and to maintain sufficient cashbalances and committed facilities to meetanticipated funding requirements. Ourresources and the expected future cashflows are regarded as more than sufficientto meet the anticipated fundingrequirements of the Group for at least the next 12 months.

The Group has a £42.0m revolvingadvances facility through RBS and Bankof Ireland which expires in April 2013 anda £5.0m overdraft facility from RBS onwhich competitive rates of interest arepayable. The maximum amount of therevolving credit facility will be reduced to £36.0m by 1 January 2013, by equalannual reductions on 1 January in 2012and 2013. In 2010 the Employee BenefitTrust was granted an overdraft facility of£2.0m, which is guaranteed by thecompany, the balance of which is includedin Archant debt. In January 2010 thecompany entered into interest rate swaparrangements covering £15.0m of its debtobligations to limit the company’sexposure to interest rate risk, whichexpired in December 2011. The companyintends to commence negotiation of a newfacility in the first half of 2012.

Net assetsNet assets on 1 January 2011 were £57.1m.The loss for the year was £1.5m, which wastransferred to reserves. Other movementsincluded a reduction of £12.1m arisingfrom the FRS 17 Retirement Benefitsaccounting standard and dividendpayments of £2.8m. Net assets at the end of the year were £40.2m.

Adjusted earning per share*pence per share

140.0

64.0

43.1

105

.1

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Share price range £low-high

Dividend declared per sharepence per share

40.1

26.4

20.1

20.1

2007 2008 2009* 2010* 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

* before amortisation, impairment and exceptional items * 2009 includes and 2010 excludes the 1st Interim for 2010 for comparative purposes

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

12.25

8.758.75

4.00

5.00

3.50

64.7

20.1

5.25

4.75

5.00

1.50


BG McCARTHY Finance Director P

Brian McCarthy, 49, joined the Board as FinanceDirector in November 2008.

Brian is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland,having qualified with Arthur Andersen in Dublin andCambridge. He joined Archant in January 2004 asFinance Director of Archant Regional Limited. Previouslyhe worked as Finance Director of an environmentalcompany and prior to that he held a series of seniorfinance roles in the English Language Division ofPearson Education.

He is Deputy Chairman of City Academy, Norwich.

AD JEAKINGS Chief Executive N P

Adrian Jeakings, 53, joined the Board as FinanceDirector in October 2002 and became Chief Executivein November 2008.

Adrian is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants and was Group FinanceDirector of The Stationery Office before joining Archant.He is a graduate of Imperial College, London andworked briefly as an engineer before training as anaccountant at BICC plc. After qualifying, he joined theinstrumentation division of Schlumberger, where he wasFinance Director of a number of business units based inFrance. Before joining The Stationery Office he wasDirector – Finance Europe for Dun & Bradstreet Inc.

Adrian is a Director of the PA Group Limited and istreasurer of the Newspaper Society. He is a governorof Norwich School and a member of the auditcommittee of the University of East Anglia.

RW JEWSON Chairman, Non-executive N R P

Richard Jewson, 67, joined the board of Eastern CountiesNewspapers Group Limited (ECNG) in 1982 as a Non-executive Director and became Chairman in 1996.

After running Jewson, the timber and building merchant,for 12 years, he held the position of Managing Director,and then Chairman, of its holding company, MeyerInternational Plc, until he retired in 1993. Subsequently he was Chairman of Savills Plc for 10 years and DeputyChairman of awg plc. He is currently a director of TempleBar Investment Trust Plc, Grafton Group plc, Raven RussiaLimited and a number of other unquoted companies.

He is HM Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk and also chairsthe Council for the University of East Anglia.

Richard chairs the remuneration and nominationscommittees.

JAE HUSTLER Director

Johnny Hustler, 56, Managing Director of ArchantAnglia, joined the Board in January 2008, havingserved as a director of a number of other Archantcompanies during 24 years of service with the Group.

After graduating from Leeds University, he went toUnilever and started his media career with AngliaTelevision in 1983, then joining the East Anglian DailyTimes in 1987. In 1995 he moved to Eastern CountiesNewspapers Limited as Marketing Director, after whichhe served in a number of senior commercial rolesbefore launching Archant Life in 2001 and managingits development through to 2011. In April 2011 hebecame Managing Director of Archant Anglia.

Johnny is the UK Director of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association and sits on theirEuropean Board. He is also a governor of NorwichSchool.

SC COPEMAN Non-executive A

Simon Copeman, 45, joined the board of ECNG in October 2001 as a Non-executive Director, havingpreviously been a member of the ECNG NewspapersBoard.

Since 1990 he has held a variety of generalmanagement, Six Sigma and sales and marketingpositions with 3M UK plc and is currently their Manager of Acquisitions, Alliances, Strategic Planning and Execution.

REJ WYATT Non-executive R A

Richard Wyatt, 52, was appointed a Non-executiveDirector of Archant in April 2005.

Richard is Chairman of Loudwater InvestmentPartners Limited. He is a Managing Director of N.M.Rothschild and formerly Managing Director of SchroderSecurities.

Richard, who is a law graduate, is also a trustee ofAldeburgh Music.

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Directors and officers


12-13 Directors 11:ARA 2007 DUMMY DESIGNS 8/3/12 16:59

MJ WALSH Non-executive N R

Mike Walsh, 62, was appointed a Non-executiveDirector of Archant in February 2010.

Mike is a Director of Ogilvy & Mather South Africaand of Ogilvy & Mather Africa Inc and a Non-executiveof The Brand Union. Formerly a main board Director of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide for 16 years, he wasalso, for 12 years, Chief Executive of their Europe,Middle East and African operations. He is also SeniorVice President of Business Development for Velti Plc.After graduating from Durham in 1971 Mike joinedYoung & Rubicam and was appointed to the Board in1981 before joining Ogilvy & Mather Plc in 1983.

Mike was previously Chairman of the UK DisastersEmergency Committee, which is an umbrellaorganisation for 13 leading UK charities including The Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children.

PJC TROUGHTON Vice-Chairman, Non-executive N R A

Peter Troughton, 63, joined the board of ECNG as aNon-executive Director in 1991, having served on theboards of East Anglian Daily Times Company Limitedand Community Media Limited since 1984.

Peter graduated from Trinity College, Cambridgeand served in HM Diplomatic Service, before joiningWHSmith Group plc, where he became ManagingDirector News Division and later, as a Director of themain board, Managing Director Retailing. He left in1995 to become Deputy Chairman of Rothschild AssetManagement until 1999. He is a Director of a numberof private companies. He is Chairman of LowlandInvestment Company plc and a Director of JOHIMGlobal Investment Funds plc and Waverton Funds plc.

A former trustee of the National Gallery, he wasappointed a trustee of the Royal Collection in 2007.He is Chairman of the Council of the University of Bath and a trustee of The Royal Opera HouseEndowment Fund.

Peter chairs the audit committee.

S ALLYENE OBE Non-executive

Sonita Allyene OBE, 45, was appointed a Non-executive Director of Archant in February 2012.

After studying Philosophy at Cambridge University,Sonita founded cross-platform media productioncompany Somethin’ Else in 1991. She was the CEOof the business for 18 years and a Non-executiveDirector for a further two years. She is a board memberof the British Board of Film Classification, a member ofthe Court of Governors of the University of the Arts andchair of the Islington Arts and Media School Trust.

She was a Non-executive Director at the Departmentfor Culture, Media and Sport from 2000-2005 and aprevious member of the National Employment Paneland London Skills and Employment Board. Sonita wonthe Carlton Multicultural Achievement Award for TV andRadio in 2002 and is a fellow of The Royal Society ofthe Arts and the Radio Academy. She was awarded anOBE for services to broadcasting in November 2003.

JO ELLISON Company Secretary

John Ellison, 60, was appointed Company Secretary ofECNG in February 1996.

N Member of the NominationsCommittee

R Member of the RemunerationCommittee

A Member of the Audit CommitteeP Member of the Pensions Committee

ANNUAL REPORT 2011


12-13 Directors 11:ARA 2007 DUMMY DESIGNS 8/3/12 17:00

ANNUAL REPORT 2011


In 2011 we began a process to place our customers at the coreof everything we do. To help achieve this we changed to amarket rather than product-line focus.

We have looked hard at our people. We have invested intraining for our staff and technology to deliver on ourcustomers’ needs. We have improved our recruitment and putin place an industry-leading sales force development process.

We have increased investment in market research. Betterinsight into the changing needs of different customers meansthat our products – on newsprint, in magazines or deliveredthrough digital channels – are more relevant, more engagingand provide a more responsive environment for advertisers.

We have improved our portfolio. New products have beenlaunched and new routes to market have been developed todeliver our content in new ways and to reach more readers.

We haven’t forgotten the need to keep costs under control, tobe innovative in finding ways of doing things more efficiently.This provides funds to invest in bringing growth.

We care for the wider environment: operating a sustainablebusiness is the right thing to do. Reducing waste generatesreal cost savings.

And at our heart we are, and will remain, a community business.

Over the next few pages, we celebrate some of the things wedid in 2o11 and some of the people who made them possible.

15-30 Features 2011.qxp:ARA 2007 DUMMY DESIGNS 8/3/12 17:05

appropriate mix of Archantprint and digital products.” As he concludes: “This meanswe maximise coverage andimpact for our budget.”

Archant LondonArchant also combined itsLondon Life magazine portfoliowith Archant London’snewspaper business. “We werealready one of the largest printedmedia players in London witha purely local focus,” says BobCrawley, Archant London’seditorial director. “And our London24 website is one of the fastest growing news sitesfor the capital, with an activefollowing.

“By combining our London-focused newspapers, magazinesand websites we will strengthenthis relationship with our localcommunities, which will increaseour ability to grow our share ofthe UK’s most dynamic mediamarketplace and provide bettersolutions for our customers.”

In January 2012, Will Hattamwas appointed managingdirector of Archant London.

iPad also allows readers toshare content.

Johnny is keen to stress that Archant is as much a salesbusiness as an editorial business.“We must remember that thereason for creating great contentis to engage audiences and soprovide a positive environmentfor our advertising customers,”he explains.

“By bringing together someof the strongest local mediabrands in the country, we areable to improve our service tothose customers, whether theirbusiness is local or covers thewhole of East Anglia.”

Andy Wood, CEO of brewerand retailer Adnams, is one suchcustomer. “We’re very pleasedwith the way Archant Angliabrings together all thecompany’s titles across theregion in multimedia platforms,”he says. “When we now plan an integrated advertisingcampaign in East Anglia, weonly have to talk to one teamabout our needs. They help ustarget the different segments in the market using the most

IN 2011, ARCHANT aligned its print and online productsunder regional business leaders.“The print media industry isfacing unprecedented changeand intense competition,”explains chief executive AdrianJeakings. “Our new structure is helping us to respond fasterand more efficiently to ourconsumers’ evolving needs,helping our growth prospects.”

Archant AngliaIn April 2011, Johnny Hustlermoved from Archant Lifestyleto become managing directorof the newly created ArchantAnglia division, responsible for the newspaper businessesin Suffolk, Norfolk and Herts& Cambs, and all Archant’swebsites and Life magazinesfor the region.

The team has demonstratedits creative abilities with thelaunch of EQ Life in 2011. Apremium magazine for horseenthusiasts that combines livelycopy, stunning photos andexciting video, EQ Life also has a strong online presencewhere readers can join forumson the website and followstories on Twitter andFacebook. A free app for

Putting customers firstDuring 2011 Archant focused on developinga customer-centric organisation to tackle thechallenges of a tough economy

What attracted you to join Archant?The opportunity to work withgreat people and brands in an environment that embracescreativity and new ideas.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I am a former marketing director,national newspapers at TrinityMirror and a divisional managingdirector at Bauer Media.

What excites you aboutyour role?There are tremendous opportunitiesto grow our business in Londonby creating and launching newproducts and services as well as developing existing ones.

WILL HATTAM MANAGING DIRECTOR,ARCHANT LONDON

NEW TALENT

Archant LifestyleIn April, Miller Hogg took onthe role as head of ArchantLifestyle with responsibilityfor the magazine businessesoutside East Anglia and Londonand the newspapers of ArchantSouth West and Archant KOSMedia.

“We have the biggest countymagazine portfolio in thecountry, 16 specialist magazinesand a strong and innovativecontract publishing business.

“This new structure bringsus closer to those communitiesand helps to create biggercommunities, which give usgreater opportunities to useour media more cohesively.Now our newspapers, magazinesand websites operate moreeffectively in their regions,working together, sharinglearning and marketing ideasfor the benefit of readers andadvertisers.

“I am therefore thrilled to have the opportunity ofdeveloping this new model,”Miller concludes, “and amconfident it will enhance ourbusiness performance.”

Johnny Hustler Managing director ofnewly created Archant Anglia

Miller HoggManaging director, Archant Lifestyle




One company, one directionAs part of Archant’s overall strategy to improve its performance, the Group streamlined its legalstructure in 2011 by combining all its tradingactivities into one trading subsidiary, ArchantCommunity Media Limited (although the Groupname remains Archant Limited). This single legalentity brings together the Regional, Print, Life,Specialist and Dialogue businesses, along withshared services and most central functions.

As John Ellison, Company Secretary, explains:“After 150 years, and many acquisitions, ourorganisational structure had grown too complex,with numerous legal silos representing differentparts of the business. This created potential

impediments to cross-functional co-operation. “By creating one legal entity for all our trading

activities and abolishing those silos, we havesimplified the way our business operates. The newcompany now matches the reality on the ground,where multi-disciplinary teams are working todeliver a more efficient customer-centric service.”

Since the divisions are maintaining theiroperational branding and titles, Archant’s readerswill not see any change. However, it will makelife easier for suppliers, advertisers andadministration. In the past, they would have tosign separate agreements with each division theyworked with: now they just sign one agreementwith Archant Community Media.

This was a major undertaking and the projectinvolved over 1,000 documents and six hours of signing, making it one of the largest projectsever undertaken by solicitors Mills & Reeve.

The project involved some employees movingfrom one Archant legal entity to another. Thecompany used Connect, its internal socialnetwork, to brief employees on the change and to answer any questions.

“This move,” says Adrian Jeakings “aligns our legal structure with our businesses and the customers and communities they serve. It reduces administration costs and makes it easier for employees to work together on Group-wide initiatives.”

ARCHANT’S ADVERTISING TEAMis responsible for generatingthree quarters of Archant’srevenues. The slowingeconomy and increasinglytough sales environment haveseen these revenues decline,but, in 2011, Archant tooksteps to reverse the trend bylaunching its Sales Academy,headed by Group HR directorDee Willmott.

“It is vital that we invest indeveloping talent across thebusiness,” says Dee. “TheArchant Sales Academy ishelping us to recruit, train and retain a best-in-class sales team. Our aim is to driveperformance, grow marketshare, increase revenues and so improve profitability for the benefit of shareholders and employees.

“Working with our partnerSilent Edge, a leading salesconsultancy, we are ensuringeveryone in sales and salesmanagement has the skills to provide advertisers with an excellent service and growsales. This will enable ourcustomers to exploit newopportunities across Archant’smulti-channel portfolio.”

Archant launched the newAcademy in Norfolk in 2011and plans to roll it out acrossthe business in 2012.

“Silent Edge analysed oursales processes and used theinformation to create a data-driven change programme.

“By evaluating participantsobjectively in a real salesenvironment against recognisedbest practice, we help themunderstand their strengths and

weaknesses and to achievetheir full potential. Theprogramme focuses on inputs –motivating people to embracechange, develop skills andimprove performance. Theoutcomes, increased sales andcustomer retention, follow – as do the rewards for success.”

As part of this project,Archant has introduced a newrecruitment process, rewrittenits induction programme, andimproved communicationswithin and between teams. “We have also appointed DawnCoady as our first dedicatedrecruitment manager, with aparticular focus on recruitingsalespeople. This fits withArchant’s strategy of appointingtalented individuals across thebusiness to improve ourperformance.”

What attracted you to join Archant?I had previously worked as aconsultant with the senior teamand I was very impressed andenjoyed the experience. I wasalso inspired by the Group’svision and wanted to be part ofthe transformation from a print-based business to being amultimedia business focusing onthe local communities we serve.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I have over 20 years’ experiencein human resources within themanufacturing, financial servicesand private equity sectors. I havebeen focused on driving businessgrowth and helping organisationsdeliver transformational change.Throughout my career I havefocused on people developmentand talent management.

What excites you about your role?My passion is organisationdevelopment, coaching andhelping people achieve their fullpotential. The nature and pace of change in the media worldpresents Archant with hugeopportunities to help shape theteam and organisation to take on the future challenges.

DEE WILLMOTTGROUP HR DIRECTOR

NEW TALENT

Archant sales academy

Investing in peopleGroup HR director, Dee Willmott (left) and Group recruitment manager, Dawn Coady



“We now have three sources ofrevenue: network membershipsales, premium propertydisplays and features, and lead generation.”

Zoopla’s innovative technologyhas transformed the homes24service for customers. It nowboasts highly accurate propertydata, mapping functions, andunique research services.“These include free, instant-value estimates on any homein the UK and the social media‘AskMe!’ property forum,” headds. With over half a millionUK properties listed, and

simple tools to connect withlocal agents, it is much easierfor customers to pinpoint theperfect home to buy or rent.

At the same time, homes24offers significant benefits tosellers, estate agents anddevelopers. “We have a rangeof products to promote agents’brands, including postcode-targeted advertising,” Martincontinues.

“Our key asset is Archant’sextensive community mediaportfolio. We use our localnewspapers and countymagazines and related websitesto encourage local buyers andrenters to engage with thehomes24 service. We back thisup with other initiatives, suchas search engine optimisationand direct marketing. This isdriving increasing levels oftraffic, which in turn boosts the level of direct responsesfor our local agents.”

In October 2011, Zooplaannounced plans to mergewith Digital Property Group,which runs FindAProperty.comand PrimeLocation.com. Themove aims to create a crediblechallenger to the currentnumber one, Rightmove, andwill further increase the choiceof properties available on thehomes24 site.

A new set of wheelsThe used car market is verycompetitive and, despiteattracting more than 30,000unique visitors a month, drive24needed scale to survive.

Peter Swallow, commercialdirector, explains: “Archantrelaunched the site in 2011, inpartnership with Motors.co.uk,the UK’s second largest usedcar advertising network and oneof the largest search networksfor dealers. As a result, we nowoffer Archant’s customers thechoice of over 160,000 usedcars locally and nationally.”

The site benefits fromMotors’ industry-leading search technology and clearpresentation, which enhancesthe user experience. At thesame time, it creates a positiveenvironment for advertisers.

ONLINE AUDIENCES DEMANDintuitive, subject-specificapplications, with richinteractive content to maketheir lives easier. When itcomes to searching for cars andhomes, they also want a strongfocus on their local community.

That’s why Archant took the opportunity in 2011 to relaunch its homes24 anddrive24 websites.

More than a makeoverIn January 2011, Archantentered into a strategicpartnership with Zoopla, oneof the largest property searchand information businesses inthe UK, to relaunch homes24.“This was a radical upgrade,”says Martin Cunningham,commercial director. “Itintroduced a fresh look andfeel, a market-leading searchplatform, more properties anda range of value-added features.”

Zoopla’s property database is available through a networkof partner websites, includinghomes24. Estate agents pay tojoin the network and advertisetheir properties on those sites.“This enables us to reinforceour relationships with localestate agents,” says Martin.

Local focus online

What attracted you to join Archant?I worked as a consultant for anumber of months; I was veryimpressed with the Group’sinvestment in people, training and development, successionplanning and in its products.

What skills andexperience do you bring? I bring a wealth of experience,knowledge and skills having heldsenior positions with some of the top companies in the UK,including Daily Mail, UnitedBusiness Media and Virgin.

What excites you about your role?The challenge of competing in a very tough marketplace, with a collection of very goodproducts. Motivating, training and developing a team toproduce over and above target.

MIKE DEEDIGANSOUTH EAST GROUP PUBLISHER ARCHANTLIFESTYLE

NEW TALENT

Archant has relaunched two of its ‘24’ websites to create a better environment for advertisers

“We promote drive24 acrossArchant’s media portfolio. Thisincludes 180 websites, as wellas our newspapers in EastAnglia, London, and the SouthWest with a total circulation ofaround two million copies aweek. This provides dealerswith a unique mix of local andnational exposure,” says Peter.

At the same time, dealerswho join drive24 get to advertiseon Motors.co.uk’s network whichattracts 1.5 million uniquevisitors a month. They alsobenefit from extensive searchengine marketing to driveenquiries from buyers.

Peter concludes: “As a result,dealers are successfully sellingcars through drive24 and theMotors network. This has helpedus sign up over 200 local dealersalready. The move has also seencost savings and efficiencies inrunning websites.”

Peter SwallowCommercialdirector, drive24

Martin CunninghamCommercial director,homes24


The heart of the community

EXPANDING ITS FOCUS onspecial-interest communities,in 2011 Archant invested intwo innovative services to offersubstantial discounts on localgoods and services.

In January 2011, Archanttook a 50 per cent stake in thecompany that owns Tickles, alocal group-buying website. Thecompany originally launched in2010 and immediately provedpopular with communities inNorfolk and Cambridgeshire.It has since rolled out to otherareas of the country, includingSuffolk.

“The difference betweenTickles and other group-buyingwebsites is its local focus,” saysDavid Marrinan-Hayes, Ticklesand 40Winks’ commercialdirector. “We have a strongpresence in the locations weserve, which means we have amuch closer relationship withour business customers and our consumers.

“Being part of Archant has

also helped us secure exclusivedeals with clients. Theyparticularly appreciate ourunderstanding of our audiencesand the fact that the service isvery simple to use. All theyhave to do is offer Tickles-onlydiscounts on specific productsor services in return for aminimum number of sales in a set time.”

Serge Taborin, Archant’sGroup business developmentdirector, explains: “The valueof this service to users is thatit’s virtually risk-free.Businesses know the exact costof any successful deal. If anoffer lapses without attractingthe pre-agreed number of‘Ticklers’, then the businessand those customers who haveshown an interest pay nothing.

“As a result, we are seeing afantastic response from targetaudiences and local advertisers.The service is helping usstrengthen our relationshipwith existing clients, who

now see us as more than just a newspaper business. It is also opening doors to otherbusinesses who have neverdealt with Archant before.”

Archant is now promoting its Tickles local group-buyingservice across a large part of its media portfolio.

“The Tickles servicedemonstrates our drive to findinnovative and cost-effectiveways for local advertisers toreach their target audience,”says Adrian Jeakings. “It alsoreinforces our commitment toour communities, by bringingthem great deals from businessesthey know.”

Dream offersIn April 2011 Archant launched40Winks – the first group-buying site dedicated to theUK hotels and leisure market.

“The service uses the Ticklesgroup-buying technology andworks in a similar way,” addsDavid. “Our customers sign

What attracted you to join Archant? The thinking at Archant and itstrust and investment in people isdefinitely more progressive thanat our competitors and it shows in product quality and execution.

What skills andexperience do you bring? I have worked with large mediaorganisations as well as foundinga number of digital start-ups. I liketo think I can take the best fromboth to create an environmentwhere we can build innovativeproducts that engage and deliverreal value to our consumers andcustomers.

What excites you about your role? The possibilities! In the digitalsector a well-executed idea cangrow very quickly. I am lookingforward to building world-classproducts for Archant thateveryone can feel proud of.

DAVID MARRINAN-HAYESCOMMERCIAL DIRECTOR,TICKLES AND 40WINKS

Serving geographic and special-interest communities is at the heart of Archant’s business. By providingthem with new and innovative products, the Groupbuilds stronger relationships with its customers

NEW TALENT

up, for free, to receive specialoffers from hotels and other shortbreak providers in the UK. Theythen share those offers withpeople in their social networksand if enough accept the offerthen the deal goes ahead.

“This is great for hoteliersbecause it increases occupancyrates without the expense of ahuge marketing campaign. Ourcustomers effectively do themarketing for them, in exchangefor the chance of exceptionaldiscounts on premium hotels and resorts.”

Group buying sites are one ofthe fastest growing segments ofthe online world. Serge concludes:“The launch of Tickles and40Winks is a clear signal thatArchant intends to remain at thecutting edge of digital mediadevelopments for the benefit ofour customers and advertisers.”

Archant intendsto remain at thecutting edge ofdigital mediadevelopments

Serge TaborinGroup business development director

19



What attracted you to join Archant?I was drawn by the strength of the vision and ambition of thedirectors and the innovation andcreativity of its staff. Looking atArchant from afar, I wasimpressed by the desire of theteam to transform the businessfrom a traditional print-basedpublishing Group into a modernmultimedia organisation whilekeeping a strong belief in thefuture of its printed brands.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I have worked within regionalpress for more than 20 years. My success in past and presentpositions is not only personal. Ihave facilitated profit growth inevery business I have worked for.I specialise in the development of highly trained and motivatedcommercial teams, advertisingsales development, customerrelationship building, marketingand general management.

What excites you about your role?Several things,really. To work with such great brands and thecommunities they serve, togetherwith the opportunity to innovateand launch new products. Finally,to work for a Group which isambitious.

CHRIS MOORECOMMERCIAL DIRECTOR,ARCHANT NORFOLK

NEW TALENT

DESPITE THE RAPID increase in media channels, people stilltend to gravitate to strongbrands in print and online forrelevant and timely reporting.Archant therefore continues todevelop its customer-centricstrategy of providing the rightcontent, at the right time, andin the right format.

“This approach requires adetailed understanding, basedon accurate data, of how ourcustomers use our products,”says Katherine Silver, head ofmarketing for Archant Anglia.“That’s why we ran a rigorousbrand and customer researchproject in 2011 to look at howreaders in Suffolk engage with

the East Anglian Daily Times(EADT).”

Adrian Jeakings points out:“This was a very sophisticatedpiece of work and one that noother UK regional publisherappears to have done before. Asa result, we have gained valuableinsights into how key groups ofcustomers interact with ournewspapers and websites.”

“The project focused on allaspects of the EADT brand,”explains Katherine. “Theseincluded customer and staffperceptions of the brand offer,the content, presentation, andthe role it plays in customers’lives. The results also revealedfascinating areas of overlap in

Customer data and new technologies have enabledArchant to get closer to its customers, delivering theright content, in the right format, at the right time

our online and offline audiences– and showed us how they useboth contact points.

“This brand engagementmodel has emphasised theimportance of capturing,analysing and using goodcustomer data. The resultshave been extremely valuablefor EADT, influencing the way we think about ouraudience as well as strategicand commercial issues.”

The paid-for growth challengeThe proliferation of mediachannels has led many peopleto expect content to be free atthe point of consumption.

Customer connection

Katherine SilverHead of marketing, Archant Anglia



Nevertheless, Archant remainsconfident in the future ofrevenue-generating content.As such, the Group continues tofocus on growing its paid-forprint and digital audiences bycreating community-focusedmaterial and developingmultiple routes to market.

“We are transforming ourtraditional business to meetthe demands of a changingworld,” says chairman Richard Jewson. “That meansdeveloping our people andproducts to take full advantageof new technology, whileimproving the efficiency of our processes. At the sametime, paid-for printed productscontinue to play a key role in delivering an engagedaudience for our advertisers.”

Adrian Jeakings agrees:“Our industry-leading ABCcirculation figures in 2011clearly demonstrate what wecan achieve with the rightcombination of relevant storiesand innovative distributionmethods to support moretraditional channels.”

In March 2012, ABCcirculation figures revealed all four of Archant’s dailynewspapers to be the top-performing titles across thewhole of the UK, for the thirdsix-month period in a row. Twoof them (and nearly all Archant’spaid-for weekly titles outsideLondon) achieved paid-forcirculation growth during 2011.

The Eastern Daily Press sawcirculation rise 0.7 per cent to59,802 copies, and the EveningNews rose 7.5 per cent to18,931 – making it the best-performing daily newspaper in the whole country. “Thesefantastic results are a tribute tothe hard work and dedicationof the Norwich team,” saysTim Williams, Evening Newseditor. “We not only haveexcellent journalists but ournewspaper distribution team,

the industry average.However, Archant is fully

aware of the risk of a suddenaudience shift away from print, as Brian McCarthy, Groupfinance director explains:“Although we continue togenerate growth in our paid-forprint publications, we are notcomplacent. Sharp increases inpaper prices and new, cheaperdigital readers have the potentialto transform the market. That’swhy Archant is focused oncreating premium content andmaking it available across arange of paid-for formats.”

Digital pays dividends Recognising the threat to paid-for print and the opportunityof mobile media has madedigital a key development area for Archant. It is thereforeconcentrating on building its digital editorial skills, toincrease the quality as well asthe quantity of online content.

Tim Youngman, head ofdigital marketing, ran a one-day editorial conference in thesummer for colleagues fromnewspapers and magazines.“This featured internal andexternal experts,” says Tim,“including a speaker from theBBC. They shared valuableinsights on how to source andcompile multimedia storiesand how to grow onlineaudiences.”

Tim also ran a series of

led by Don Williamson, isprobably the best in the country.”

Archant Norfolk alsoproduced circulation increasesacross all five weekly titlesduring 2011. This includedimpressive increases of 7.8 percent for the Lowestoft Journal(its second industry-leadingperformance in a row) and 7.3per cent for the Great YarmouthMercury.

Don Williamson, head ofaudience growth at ArchantNorfolk, says: “Our salesactivity complements theefforts of our advertising andeditorial colleagues, whoconsistently produce first-classpublications.”

The EADT showed anincrease of 0.3 per cent to29,772 and the Evening Starof 0.4 per cent to 15,471 –both continuing to outperform

What attracted youto join Archant?The opportunity to work for theUK’s largest independent publisher.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I have 15 years of publishingexperience, starting in sales withEMAP and Johnston Press thenquickly moving into management,sitting on the board with JobOpportunities and, prior tojoining Archant, with Iliffe Newsand Media. I have a proven track record of taking over areanumber-two titles and turning them into market leaders.

What excites you about your role?The current climate excites me;the challenges it brings and the opportunities that exist within our markets.

JAMES GURNEYSUFFOLK COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

NEW TALENT

workshops for journalists onsocial media. He has createdsocial media guidelines (whichhe updates regularly) and abook on how to improve onlineusability. “This has helped oureditorial teams create moreengaging and relevant content,”explains Tim, “which in turnhas improved the environmentfor Archant’s online advertisers.”

“We also changed the design of the templates for our regional newspaper sites to improve their usability forreaders. Archant Anglia is nowusing dedicated digital salesteams to provide a greaterfocus on clients’ onlineadvertising needs.

“As a result, we have seengrowth in audiences andrevenues across most areas,”concludes Tim, “including a year-on-year increase of 152 per cent in national digitaldisplay revenues to December2011. This demonstrates thevalue of investing in peopleand products.”

We are transforming our traditional business to meet the demands of a changing world

Don WilliamsonHead of audience growth



INVESTMENT IN NEW technologyhas helped Archant deliverricher community-focused andsubject-specific content, usingmultiple channels. It has alsoincreased opportunities forcustomer engagement, sohelping to create a morereceptive environment foradvertisers.

Miller Hogg, managingdirector, Archant Lifestyle,explains how it also maximisesthe use of existing workflowsand content: “We already usethe Content ManagementSystem (CMS) to send PDFsto the printers. Now we canconvert those PDFs into arange of digital formats, whichare compatible with all themajor platforms.

“Customers can view avirtual edition of the magazinewhile benefitting fromenhanced functionality,including embedded videosand podcasts and hyperlinks.”

This approach has extendedthe usability and reach ofArchant’s products and brands.Many papers and magazines

are now available in digitalformat on the customer’smobile medium of choice.

Push and pull Promoting Archant’s enhanceddigital offering involves amixture of push and pullmarketing, as Miller explains:“With some platforms, such as Apple’s iTunes, where theprovider controls the audience,we can only ‘push’ our offerinto the proprietary online‘app stores’ and hope peoplefind us. HTML5 is ‘classless’,however, which means it canrun on any web-based platform.We are therefore creatingHTML5-compatible productsand promoting them to existingcustomers in our print andonline communities, ‘pulling’them towards this open platform.”

Pull marketing is veryimportant to Archant because itenables us to add value to ouroffering and retain customersas they transition to digitalformats. “When a customer buysa print edition, they now get thedigital copy free; alternatively

they can just buy the digitalversion on its own.”

Push marketing has its placetoo as it gives Archant accessto a new global audience. Now,someone in China who wantsto read English Home magazinecan buy it through one of those platforms – and evenread it before the print editioncomes out.

Archant already sells printmagazines by subscription in 31 countries. Four of itsmagazines each sell over120,000 copies a year in theUS alone. “Digital enables us to reach this internationalaudience faster,” says Miller.“Geographical restrictions arefalling away, leaving our brandsfree to engage with consumerswherever they may be.”

Online copy salesTwo new services, SubscriptionSave and BuyAMag, are helpingaccelerate digital distribution.

Subscription Save is anArchant-wide subscriptionservice for print and digitalproducts. Launched in 2010

for Archant Specialist’s titles, itextended its offer to include allthe Group’s magazines in 2011.

“Directing people who wantto subscribe to an Archant titleto the site gives us an excellentopportunity to showcase therange of titles we produce.

“It also gives us moreinformation about our readersbecause they have to registeron the site. This means we can engage with them moreproactively and effectively,online and by email. Knowingwho they are and what theylike helps us tailor our offers to their interests.”

Archant launched itsBuyAMag platform in June2011 to sell single copies orpart-year subscriptions. “Itenables customers to buy anyof our magazines direct, whenthey want them,” Millerexplains, “rather than havingto find them in retail outlets.”It also allows customers to orderup to four editions in the yearahead, which is useful for thosewho live in different places atdifferent times of the year.

The World of PhotographyApp complements Photography

Monthly magazine, and issponsored by Nikon

Meeting theshifting patterns in the way peopleconsume media is the key driverbehind Archant’songoing investmentin new technology

Great content, when you want it

EQ Life magazine in iPad digital format



Traditionally, customerswould only get a discount ontheir subscription to one brand.Now customers can buy creditsfor their personal account at adiscount (say £50 of credit for£40) and use them to buy anyproduct from Archant’s range.“This is about adding valueand service for the customerand increasing sales. BuyAMagis already selling over 1,000Archant magazines direct everymonth, and increasing quickly.”

Multi-channel publishingArchant launched its CMS in 2009, which was rolled outacross the newspaper brandsduring 2010. During 2011, this multi-channel publishingsystem was extended to theArchant Life and Specialistdivisions. Robyn Bechelet,editorial development director, Archant Lifestyle,said: “This was a major projectbut, thanks to our editorialteams working closely with theArchant Information Systemsproject team, training wascompleted between March

and September 2011. All Lifemagazines are now producedusing CMS and copy will befiled directly to web in the first half of 2012.

“The first website to benefitwas www.airgunshooting.co.uk,which launched in November2011. Specialist magazinebrands Airgun World and AirGunner serve content directfrom CMS to this site.”

Mobile revenueIn 2011, Archant appointedTerry McCusker as head ofmobile with responsibility formobile revenue generation,including from SMS codes innewspapers and magazines.“Text messaging offers readersa new way of interacting withour print and onlinepublications,” explains Terry.“It enables them to textanswers to competitions,comment on stories, vote inpolls and even send letters to the editor. This helpsincrease customer engagementand brand loyalty.

“We call these ‘furniture

services’ because they becomepart of the furniture of thepaper. They are there everyweek, so readers becomefamiliar with them and evencome to rely on them.”

Archant is using the serviceto collect personal data fromevery text and match it withsubscription records. “Thiscreates a powerful picture ofour customers,” adds Terry,“including irregular readerswho are normally very hard to profile.

“All this adds value to our database and increases its range of commercialpossibilities. Advertisers alsohave a better understanding of our readers, which helpsthem make their campaignsmore engaging and thusimproves response rates.

“In addition, Archant will be able to use the data for itsown customer relationshipmanagement activity, includingsending targeted email andSMS offers to readers whohave opted to receive them.”

What attracted youto join Archant?I wanted to join Archant as this is arguably the most interestingtime to work for a media owner.We are in the middle of a digitaltransition and it’s exciting to be at the eye of this storm.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I have nine years of experience inmobile marketing and the last sixof those years have been spentdeveloping and implementingstrategies for newspaper groups.

What excites you about your role?I am excited about my rolebecause I have the opportunity to build a business line from theground up. Working in my areais like working for a start-up but,unlike a start-up, I can leverageoff our established printed anddigital products and our mostimportant asset, our audience.

TERRY McCUSKER HEAD OF MOBILE

NEW TALENT

All thisadds value toour databaseand increasesits range ofcommercialpossibilities

Photo upload App for theHarley Owners Group –photos upload straight to

the gallery website

Interactive Sport Divermagazine website


London for Londoners

What attracted you to join Archant?I firmly believe that location-basedinformation and content is goingto go through a phenomenalrevival. Archant has sometremendous local brands andcontent so it’s a privilege to bepart of the transition that will seeArchant build on its place at theheart of communities.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I learned a lot about communitiesthrough my time as head of onlinefor EMAP consumer magazines – valuable lessons which applydirectly to my role at Archant –and during my time at TrinityMirror Group as head of digitalfor the nationals division. I’mlooking forward to using all of my past experiences to rapidlydevelop the products that willdeliver strong audience andrevenue growth for Archant.

What excites you about your role?The size of the opportunity. Thereare some great people at Archant;knowledgeable, passionate andcommitted. The content theycreate is first-class. If we get thetechnology platforms right to letthis content travel more freely and make it relevant to morepeople, we’ll be in great shapeto continue as a powerful force in the digital age.

PAUL HOODDIGITAL DIRECTOR,ARCHANT LONDON

NEW TALENT

What attracted you to join Archant?As many traditional mediabusinesses have stood back andwatched the changing landscapedevelop before them, Archantstands out for having the visionand foresight to become aleading innovator in communitymedia. With compelling productsand platforms that meet the highdemands of our consumers, Iwanted to be part of this fast-evolving and exciting business.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I have 17 years’ experience in publishing and generalmanagement across newspapers,magazines and online. I workedfor a leading national mediabusiness where my key objectivewas to help the transition from atraditional print-focused businessinto a team that sold across allplatforms.

What excites you about your role?The opportunities for Archant arehuge, as are the challenges, butit’s the environment I enjoy; thefreedom to operate and, moreimportantly, the people who workfor Archant. There are a numberof new people joining from awidening media landscape whobring skills and ideas with them.When we put this together withthe vast knowledge and experienceof our existing people we reallyare set up to succeed.

TONY LITTLECOMMERCIAL DIRECTOR,ARCHANT LONDON

NEW TALENT

LONDON24 IS AN excellentexample of Archant’s strategy ofbuilding strong, geographicallyfocused businesses. ArchantLondon launched the websitein January 2011 as the premieronline destination for peopleliving and working in London.

Now it provides Londonerswho really care about theircommunity with the latestnews, sport, entertainment,weather and travel. “This isLondon for Londoners,” saysBob Crawley, editorial director.“Unlike rival titles, whichmainly target commuters, wecover London’s boroughs.”

Raising our profile“Our first step was to make thelink between our online andin-paper offerings more tangible.Instead of merely running adsfor the website, all our Londonpapers now carry two pages ofLondon-wide news under the London24 branding. Wefurther enhanced the link bygiving the London24 webaddress a prominent positionunder the masthead of allArchant’s London titles.

“Meanwhile, our new

editorial approach encouragedthe Mayor of London’s officeto use the London24 websiteand its in-paper pages for thecommercial promotion of twomajor campaigns. The first,Team London, recognised andrewarded volunteering workacross the capital. The second,Talk London, gave Londonersthe opportunity to quiz theMayor, Boris Johnson, in aseries of public consultations.Both promotions helpedreinforce our reputation as an authority on London life.”

Heart of the actionDuring 2011, London24continued to demonstrate itsengagement with communitiesacross the capital. This becamemost apparent during theLondon riots, when uniquevisitors (UVs) to the main sitepeaked at 574,000 in August(up from 285,000 in July andjust 15,100 in January).

As Bob continues: “Ourcoverage of the riots showedour relevance to local people.The CMS enabled us to provideup-to-the-minute reports andanalysis from reporters on the

City focusBob Crawley, editorial director, Archant London




ground. It also meant we couldincorporate a blog on the mainsite to provide updates fromacross the capital.

“The most successful pointcame when we ran a 14-hourlive blog during the height ofthe disturbances, with real-time commentary. Thisattracted 34,000 visitors, whoposted 7,400 comments in oneday. The blog also increasedoverall traffic to the main site – and the time people spent on London24 increased.

“We were particularlypleased to receive praise fromthe public who were impressedwith the accuracy and balanceof our online reporting. That is a testament to theprofessionalism of all ourreporters in, at times, verydangerous conditions.”

Driving digitaldevelopmentIn November 2011, ArchantLondon appointed Paul Hoodas its new digital director. Paulis now responsible for growingaudiences and digital revenuesacross Archant London’sportfolio of 19 newspapers and 12 magazines.

“Archant London’s portfolioproduces great content,” saysPaul. “This plays an importantrole in the lives of hundreds ofthousands of Londoners everyweek, providing invaluablelocal news and informationwhich helps them engage withthe community in which theylive and work.

“Our challenge is to exploitthe latest technologies to makethis great content more nimble,to free it from traditionalplatform constraints and to letit travel so people can use itwhen it’s most relevant.”

Paul has already identifiedthe London24 brand as beingripe for profitable development.“The London24 concept isfantastic. It aggregates all thecontent from our trusted localbrands and creates a pan-London proposition, whichappeals to consumers andadvertisers.

“One of the first jobs is tofurther develop London24’scontent proposition, so itserves the needs of consumersin print, online and on mobiledevices. Our aim is to createthe definitive guide to Londonfor residents and visitors fromacross the world.”

BEING AT THE heart of localcommunities is an essential part ofArchant’s strategy. With its extensiveportfolio of county Life magazines,as well as its strong regionalnewspaper titles, the companyhas a particular feel for our ruralheritage.

It was therefore a great honourfor all involved to work with ThePrince’s Countryside Fund in 2011on a photo competition to capturethe beauty of our natural landscapes.The result was PICTURE perfect, a premium magazine celebratingthe winners, promoting the Fundnationally, and exemplifyingArchant’s multi-disciplinary skills.

Richard Woolliams, businessdevelopment director of ArchantDialogue, explains: “HRH ThePrince of Wales set up the Fund inJuly 2010 to help young peoplewho want to live and work in theirrural communities. It has alreadyreceived donations of over£1.5m from individuals andnational brands such asWaitrose, Barclays, Jordan’s andMusto, and is using the money tosupport some 22 projects acrossthe country.”

In July 2011, the Fund launchedthe first National Countryside

Week to raise awareness of thecountryside’s contribution to ourlives and to encourage people tohelp their rural communities. “Itwas our pleasure to run the photocompetition promoting the event,”says Richard, “and to produce thecommemorative magazine.”

The challenge for entrants was to capture the beauty of theGreat British countryside in all itsspectacular diversity. This struck achord with many of Archant’s onemillion Life magazine readers aswell as visitors to the Great BritishLife website. “As a result, wereceived over 2,700 entries onlinein just over two months, covering10 regions of Great Britain.”

The competition and theresulting publication provided agreat opportunity for Richard todraw on Archant’s multimediaskills. “The Great British Life team,led by editor and publisher MaryBrooks, devised and ran thecompetition on their website,” he explains, “while editors fromArchant Life’s county magazinesand Great British Life judged andshortlisted the entries.

“We also relied on ArchantSpecialist’s expertise in thephotography market to produce

the high-quality 164-pagePICTURE perfect magazine. Thiscaptures hundreds of the bestimages, including the winningentries (as judged by Mark Price,MD Waitrose; landscapephotographer Charlie Waite;Miller Hogg, MD Archant Lifestyle;and Suzanne Heaven, editorialdirector for Archant Anglia).

“Adam Scorey, editor ofArchant Imaging, and his colleagueJeff Meyer ensured the magazinenot only looked great but wasalso a good read, with engagingand inspiring articles on many ofthose who have received grantsfrom the Fund over the last year.Guy Hanson, Archant Life’snational sales director, oversawad sales across the country. Thishelped promote the Fund’s activitiesand demonstrated the range ofnational companies backing it.

“PICTURE perfect was madeavailable through Waitrose, WH Smith, Booths andSainsbury’s, as well as overseasoutlets. It was also made availableonline through buyamag.co.ukand subscriptionsave.co.uk.”

Archant Life is donating £2 percopy to the Fund for every onlinesale. It will also continue to playan active part in promoting ThePrince’s Countryside Fund.

Richard concludes: “We weredelighted when HRH The Princeof Wales singled Archant out inhis speech at the prizegiving inClarence House for its support.Not only was this great for morale,it also demonstrated the importanceof our role in the community.”

We received over 2,700entries online in just over two months, covering 10 regions of Great Britain

Picture perfect

Photo callLeft to right: Mary Brooks, editorand publisher, Great British Life;Adam Scorey, editor, ArchantImaging; and Richard Woolliams,business development director,Archant Dialogue



THE PRIMARY ENGINE forgrowth in Archant’s contractpublishing division, ArchantDialogue, was its ‘horsepower’specialism in 2011. Horsepoweris shorthand for Dialogue’s two-wheel and four-wheel motoringtitles, plus its four-leggedequestrian portfolio – whichalready includes membershiptitles for British Eventing,Porsche Club, Burghley HorseTrials, Ascot Racecourse andHarley-Davidson.

Horsepower client wins andnew launches in 2011 includeda wide range of magazines,websites and Apps. In themotor sector Dialogue addedmagazines for The BritishMotorcyclists Federation andMercedes-Benz South West.

The equestrian stable grewtoo. British Showjumping andSandown Park Racecourseboth appointed Dialogue toredevelop their magazineswhile Barbury Castle teamedup with Dialogue to produceits horse trials and countyshow programme. There werealso two high-profile launches:Badminton Life for theprestigious International HorseTrials event and Great BritishEquestrian – a lavish newbookazine and Dialogue’s first-ever owned media publication.

There were also notablebusiness developments fromDialogue’s existing customers.

“Clients demand quality andvalue in today’s economicclimate,” says managingdirector Mick Hurrell. “So, as well as striving to add newclients to our portfolio, wealso have a constant focus on deepening the relationshipwith clients we have workedwith for some time.”

Notable among these wasthe Royal Ascot Magazine,which in 2011 celebrated thishistoric racecourse’s 300thanniversary with a spectacular308-page, coffee-tablepublication. The result wasDialogue’s largest and mostcommercially successful single publication ever. Thedelighted client described itthus: “I may be biased, but Ido not believe there is a moreprestigious commemorativemagazine in the world of sport.”

The Harley Owners Group isanother example of outstandingbusiness development. 2011saw Dialogue’s Europe,Middle East & Africa (EMEA)portfolio of print and digitalproducts expand into LatinAmerica. “It’s been veryexciting taking our European-focused magazine andrepurposing it in multiplelanguages for the Mexican andBrazilian markets,” explainspublishing director Zoë Francis-Cox. “As our UK-based clienttakes responsibility for new

emerging markets outside ofEMEA, the communicationand membership materials we produce will continue toexpand accordingly. Having a deep understanding of ourclients’ businesses is paramountin securing those opportunities.”

To cap a great year, three ofDialogue’s horsepower titles – British Eventing Life, RoyalAscot Magazine and HOGmagazine (Harley OwnersGroup) – were all shortlisted as international magazines ofthe year at the Association ofPublishing Agencies’ annualawards – the contract publishingindustry’s ‘Oscars’. Royal AscotMagazine was also awarded the distinction of PrintedPublication of the Year at the Archant Awards.

Dialogue ended the year withyet another significant clientwin – the contract to publishthe Clay Pigeon ShootingAssociation’s monthly magazine,Pull! for its 25,000 members. It also marked a significantsuccess for collaboration acrossArchant Lifestyle’s publishingdivisions. Dialogue co-pitchedfor the title with Specialist,which publishes Clay Shooterand Sporting Shooter magazines.The powerful combination of contract publishing andsector expertise creates manyopportunities for mediapartnership.

What attracted you to join Archant?The products and the people I met.

What skills andexperience do you bring?25 years of publishing experiencewithin all publishing sectors. I have senior management and commercial experience intraditional and digital publishing.

What excites you about your role?Building on the success of theportfolio of products that I amresponsible for. Developing andnurturing talent. Delivering thebest possible results for ourcustomers.

MARTYN HAMMOND GROUP PUBLISHER, NORTH AND SOUTHARCHANT LIFE

NEW TALENT

To celebrateAscotRacecourse’stricentenary,Dialoguepublished a300-plus-pagemagazine,achieving a record-breaking£125,000advertisingrevenue

Dialogue horsepowerCustomer first L-R: Aisha Mason, managing editor; Sam Overton, advertising director; Andy Grant, advertising sales; Lucy Mowatt,managing editor; Mick Hurrell, managing director; Zoë Francis-Cox, publishing director; Richard Berry, senior art editor; anddesigners Abigail Burroughes and Chris Smith



IN RECENT YEARS, Archant hasachieved substantial savings byconsolidating print productionat its facilities in Thorpe. NickSchiller, Archant’s operationsdirector, says: “Consolidationhas been good for the business.We now use all the equipmentinstalled at Thorpe to produceour four daily papers and ourweekly Norfolk and Suffolktitles. We print these on thenight shift, when we run theequipment at maximumcapacity.”

Archant wasn’t, however,making full use of its day shift,despite printing a number oftitles on it. “No printer likeshaving machines and employeeswaiting for the next print runto start,” he adds, “Down-timecosts money. We thereforelooked for a more efficient way to use our resources.”

Many printers have similarissues, and Archant was able to identify a suitable supplier,

Newsfax, with spare daytimecapacity at its print works inBow, East London. Archantagreed to buy that sparecapacity and outsource thedaytime production of itsLondon, Herts and Kent titlesto Newsfax. This enabled thecompany to restructure itsoperations at Thorpe,something that would not have been possible without the earlier investment.

“This is generatingsignificant ongoing savings for Archant, in addition to the savings already made byconsolidating our operations,partly from the lowertransportation costs, sinceNewsfax is closer to customersin the South East. That’s notjust good for our business,”concludes Nick, “it’s also good news for the environment,because lower fuel consumptionreduces our carbon footprint on deliveries.”

What attracted you to join Archant?The opportunity to work for adynamic Group and be able to utilise my skills and experienceto source new talent for theorganisation. Archant is a greatGroup to work for with sometalented people and a clearvision for the future.

What skills andexperience do you bring?I bring 12 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, fromhigh-street agencies to in-houserecruitment in Norfolk, Suffolk and London. I am accredited as a Strengths Practitioner byCAPP (Centre of Applied PositivePsychology) for interview designand strengths-based recruitmentand by the REC (RecruitmentEmployment Confederation) forrecruitment best practice.

What excites you about your role?Building strong relationships withmanagers to understand theirstaffing requirements. Matchingthe strengths and experience acandidate can bring to theorganisation and working acrossall business areas to place theright person in the right job.

DAWN COADYGROUP RECRUITMENTMANAGER

NEW TALENT Investing for efficiency

What attracted you to join Archant? Working for a vibrant, respectfulbusiness where talent iscapitalised upon and ideasembraced in their entirety.

What skills andexperience do you bring? Extensive newspaper and mediaindustry expertise gained during a 20-year career which hasspanned marketing, eventmanagement, newspaper salesand working at a senior level for daily, weekly, online andmagazine products.

What excites you about your role? The challenges facing Herts &Cambs and the motivation of thestaff at all levels to make this abusiness we can continue to be proud of.

AMANDA DAVISON-YOUNGCOMMERCIAL DIRECTOR,HERTS & CAMBS

NEW TALENT

A continuous drive for operational efficiency sawArchant invest in a number of projects in 2011,including making better use of its printing capacity,centralising advertising production and developing a more robust IT infrastructure

That’s notjust good forour business,it’s also goodnews for theenvironment

Nick SchillerOperations director

➝



THE IDEAS FACTORY

Creating talented teamsArchant Publishing Services is responsible for designingadvertisements and planningthe layout of Archant’s productsto provide optimum space foreditorial content – a vital tasksince both elements must worktogether effectively to createan engaging environment forreaders and advertisers.

“Many advertisers dependon Archant’s designers to createeffective advertisements,”explains Kevin Shelcott,director of publishing services.

“The design team’s focus ison delivering creative designsolutions for clients. It has to beresponse-oriented – customerretention is a key measure ofits success. We need customersto keep returning, so theiradvertisements have to workfor them.”

Archant originally had 10production sites around thecountry. However, Kevin andhis team have consolidated thedesign and layout teams at thetwo most efficient and cost-effective sites, Norwich andWeston-super-Mare.

“In two locations we nowoperate as a single team, ratherthan several small teams,which delivers a range ofbenefits including ongoing cost savings.

“Central production enablesbetter workflow management,which makes us more resilient,and is helping us develop moreefficient ways of working. Byautomating repetitive manualtasks, we free employees to be more creative and focus on serving the customer. Thismakes their work more fulfilling

and enables them to specialiserather than trying to do a bit of everything.

“It also gives us theheadroom to accelerate thedevelopment of our digitalcapability through training thecurrent team and recruiting newtalent with specialist skills.”

Kevin concludes: “It iscritical to our sales teams thatwe can deliver high-quality and effective ads for our clients.The new centralised designteam does just that.”

More for lessOver the past 10 years,information technology (IT)has transformed the world ofpublishing. Everything thatArchant now does depends onthe speed and resilience of itsnetworks, from the integratedcontent management systemto the ability of employees tooperate from remote locations.

To support its workflow anddrive efficiency, Archant investedin two major IT projects in2011. Tony Davison, Groupinformation systems director,explains: “We have seen arapid increase in the use ofdigital content across thebusiness – from sending pagelayouts to printers as PDFs anduploading multimedia to ourwebsites, to delivering contentfor mobile apps. It becameessential to redesign andupgrade our network to handlethe demands of the business.”

News has also become moreimmediate and accessible.Consumers expect live coverageof events, which means thecreation and filing of reportsout in the field, including

photos, videos and audio blogs. At the same time, moreemployees work from homeand need access to supportfunctions in the office.

The first improvementinvolved providing secureaccess using a virtual network.“The new platform provides afaster, more secure service forremote workers,” says Tony.“As a result, colleagues canwork more efficiently andrespond faster to events andcustomers.”

The second improvementwas the installation of a newwide area network, to supportincreasing demands in thevolume of content and trafficacross all offices. “We haveincreased the bandwidth for alloffices and built in additionalcapacity for our large offices.This gives us increased controlof priority network traffic andthe ability to handle bursts of activity, such as at peakpublishing times and duringmajor sales periods or whenuploading web content.

“We have also ensured 100per cent resilience at all times by using two suppliers for thewide area network. Yet, despitedelivering a radically improvedservice, the new system costsless than the previous one,delivering significant savings to the business.”

Archant’s performanceculture relies on theknowledge, skills andcreativity of its people.Connect providesemployees a platform for sharing their ideas“Connect is an internal ‘socialmedia’ platform,” says ChrisThompson, digital productmanager, who implemented the project.

The platform acts as a singlesource of practical Group-wideinformation, so helping improveoperational efficiency. It alsogoes beyond the old-stylecorporate intranet by combiningthe best elements of Twitter andFacebook to create a vibrantArchant community online. Thisencourages people to shareideas and experiences sostrengthening our creative culture.

“The system is easy to use andaccessible to all employees,” saysChris. “More than 1,000 havealready set up their profiles andthe feedback has been positive.There are reports of successfulcollaborations across divisions,as more people use Connectregularly to ask questions, debateissues and celebrate wins.”

For example, the sales teamfor Tickles and 40Winks askedConnect users for ideas on whatoffers they should promote. Theresults provided the sales teamwith a rich source of businessleads. Someone else asked wherethe best pubs were in East Anglia.

“Other people are usingConnect as an ideas factory,”adds Chris, “testing and refiningnew projects, discussing editorialfeatures and improving existingservices. The informal commentssystem makes it easy to conductno-cost market research withcolleagues, who know ouraudiences intimately and are intouch with their local communities.

“It’s not all about work, peoplechat and arrange evenings out – as they’ve always done. Bybreaking down barriers, Connectis creating an Archant community.This makes for a richer workingexperience, which in turn booststeam morale. That must be goodfor business.”

We haveseen a rapidincrease in theuse of digitalcontent acrossthe business

Tony DavisonGroup information systems director

Kevin ShelcottDirector of publishing services

Chris ThompsonDigital product manager



necessary, we send tworeporters and provide themwith attack alarms. Theseprocedures form part of ourstandard risk assessment.However, events such as thesummer riots are unpredictableand fast-moving so we train our journalists to make DRAsthemselves.”

All journalists must stop andthink about whether they areputting themselves or others atsignificant or unnecessary risk.The DRA involves completinga simple checklist (on paper orusing their mobile phone)aimed at identifying possiblerisks, such as crowds, heights,hostile situations, animals – an important consideration inrural settings – and machinery,whether on farms or in factories.

“We got more responsesduring the week of last summer’sriots than for any other event,

which shows that everyone was thinking carefully aboutthe situation. We are pleasedto say that our team camethrough safely, which was anexcellent result considering itwas a very volatile situation.

“All we ask,” concludesLester, “is for our employeesto stop for one minute andthink about the risks ratherthan getting carried away with their enthusiasm.”

Building a sustainable business Archant continues to worktowards making its businessmore sustainable by reducingits energy consumption,increasing recycling, improvingworking practices andprotecting the environment.

As Greg Parton, Group head of procurement andsustainability, explains: “Some

ARCHANT IS NOTHING withoutits people, many of whom workin challenging environmentsto create great content. Theirsafety is of huge importance,particularly when they arereporting from potentiallydangerous situations.

As Adrian Jeakings states on the company’s health andsafety policy: “Archant is agreat place to work, but it’s not worth dying for.”

Naturally, the companycarries out all the standard riskassessments required by lawwhen planning jobs (such asreporting on sporting events orcourt appearances). However,journalists also have DynamicRisk Assessments (DRAs) onhand when covering events atshort notice, whether a protestmarch, a car crash or thesummer riots.

As Lester Marshall, Grouphealth and safety manager,explains: “Many people don’trealise how much care Archanttakes of its employees. Wenever put employees at risk forcommercial gain, which reflectsa genuine desire to protectemployees and their families.We view H&S as a moral duty.”

When Lester joined thegroup five years ago, he setabout making sure there wererobust risk assessment processesin place. “Often our reportershave to visit people who havesuffered terrible trauma. Thosepeople sometimes react angrilyto what they see as intrusionon their grief. So, how do weprotect our staff while enablingthem to do their job? Forexample, rather than justturning up, we try to contactthe people beforehand. If

Health, safety and sustainability

initiatives implemented during2011 are large-scale, such asusing our print works at Thorpemore efficiently. But manyinvolve making incrementalimprovements to transformattitudes and behaviour.”

One of the most significantachievements in 2011 was tobecome the first regionalpublisher in the UK to gain BS EN 16001 accreditation forits energy management systems.This required Archant toreduce its energy consumptionby 2.5 per cent year-on-yearover the qualifying three-yearperiod. “In fact, we exceededour target and achieved anoverall reduction of over 13 percent, which saves us money andis good for the environment.”

Archant also did well in theGovernment’s Carbon ReductionCommitment (CRC) leaguetables. The CRC scheme,which the EnvironmentAgency launched in April 2011,aims to encourage large but ‘lowenergy intensity’ businesses todo more to reduce their carbonemissions and so protect thefuture. Greg adds: “I’m pleasedto say that Archant ranked inthe top third of companies, in terms of progress made inreducing annual energyconsumption.”

Archant continuesto go to greatlengths to carefor its staff andthe environment

Archantranked in thetop third ofcompanies, in terms ofprogress madein reducingannual energyconsumption

➝

Lester MarshallGroup health and

safety manager



Engaging employees

Over the summer, Archant’senvironment correspondent TaraGreaves ran Archant’s first GreenFriday photo competition. UsingConnect to engage employeesthroughout the Group, she askedfor photos illustrating sustainabilityin action, the environment ornature at the Group.

Tara was delighted with the response: “We had someingenious entries from across thecountry that really impressed ourindependent judge, MarcusArmes, an environmental expertwho heads the CRed carbonreduction campaign at theUniversity of East Anglia. In theend, he selected three winnersand Adrian Jeakings presentedeach of them with a digital photoframe.”

Public recognitionContinuing this success,Archant won a Green Appleaward in November 2011 fromThe Green Organisation, for‘environmental best practice in print and publishing’. TheGreen Apple Awards cover arange of global sectors and areamong the best-known schemesfor recognising and promotingenvironmentally friendlybusiness practices.

“We have been shortlistedbefore,” says Greg, “but this isthe first time we’ve won. We’redelighted because it recognisesthat we take sustainability veryseriously, from our sustainabilitysteering committee, led byAdrian Jeakings, to our 70Green Champions around the Group, who help us toimprove.”

These achievements reflectArchant’s overall commitment tosustainability and environmentalprotection. “We are workinghard to make a difference. Itnot only saves us money andmakes us more efficient butalso boosts morale by makingpeople proud to work for anenvironmental champion.”

Small steps for big gainsArchant launched a number ofinitiatives in 2011 to reduce itsenergy consumption, includinginstalling software that turnsoff computer screens when notin use, and installing a passiveair conditioning system on theroof of its head office in Norwich.This pilot scheme uses thepressure differences betweenhot and cold air to force freshair down pipes into the office.

“Amazingly, the system hasno moving parts and consumesno energy,” Greg explains,“yet it keeps the offices coolenough to reduce the need forelectric fans.

“We are also using amachine to fill reusable glass bottles with still or fizzy water, instead of havingbottled water for meetingsdelivered to Prospect House.This saves on delivery costsand associated carbonemissions, as well as reducingthe number of glass and plasticbottles going to waste.”

These projects all help reduceArchant’s carbon footprint whilemaking financial sense, and thebenefits are ongoing. This can

be seen with the Group’s schemeto encourage fleet drivers touse greener vehicles, whichwas also highly commended inthis year’s Green Fleet Awards.

Not everything is better in colourArchant is also deliveringefficiencies that are moresubstantial, by focusing on waysto reduce the costs associatedwith internal printing, whetherreports, emails or presentations.“One change has been to setthe default on all our printersto mono and double-sided,”says Greg. “People now haveto make a conscious decisionto choose the more expensiveoptions of colour and single-sided, and I’m pleased to sayfew people do that.

“We have also moved fromusing 80gsm printer paper tousing 75gsm – it costs the samebut has a lower CO2 output.The individual savings aresmall, but they add up to amore efficient business andlower cost base. This piece-by-piece approach has delivered a reduction in our carbonfootprint of nearly 17 tonnes.”

Greg PartonGroup head of procurement and sustainability

Archant is a great place to work, but it’s not worthdying for



Report and financial statementsfor the year ended 31 December 2011

Registered officeProspect HouseRouen RoadNorwich NR1 1RE

AuditorsErnst & Young LLPCambridge

31-45 Reports.qxp:ARA_05 accounts pp31-45 5/3/12 13:14


Principal risks and uncertaintiesThere is an ongoing process for the identification, evaluation andmanagement of the significant risks faced by the Group. This isdescribed in the Internal Control section on page 34.

The principal risks and uncertainties are operational and financing risks.The financing risks faced by the Group are described in the Treasurymanagement, associated risks and uncertainties section of the Financialreview. The key operational risks are the organisational structure andretention of key people, structural changes in advertising marketsresulting in loss of advertising revenues, newspaper and magazinecirculations, loss of key suppliers, pension fund volatility and businesscontinuity. Each such risk is being managed to mitigate any adverseimpact on the Group as described below.

Organisational structure and retention of key peopleOur ability to execute and implement the Group’s strategic and businessplans relies on the appropriate Group structure and key people, andwe promote a culture of continuous improvement and endeavour toretain our key people. During 2011 the Group undertook asimplification of its legal structure to align with the operational andmanagerial structure put in place during the year.

AdvertisingWe are not overly reliant on any single customer or sector but we areimpacted by the economic downturn being experienced in the UK andthe structural changes within the industry. We continue to invest in thequality, structure and training of our sales teams, whilst ensuring they areproperly incentivised. We continue to strengthen our online presencethrough the launch and refresh of our digital brands and continuouslyseek new online and mobile technology revenue sources.

CirculationWe may be impacted by market declines in newspaper circulation dueto changing lifestyles, changes in the paid-for/free distribution modelsand the proliferation of news distribution channels. Our approach fornewspapers is to increase circulation, through targeted promotionalactivity, whilst focusing on relevant content and efficient distributionmechanisms. Our magazine circulations are principally driven by oursubscription strategy and our product placement in retail outlets.

Key suppliersWe have a number of key suppliers which, if they were unable to meettheir obligations to the Group, could result in disruption. We have anagreement to source all newsprint from a single major supplier. In theevent of disruption at one plant, the supplier has guaranteed continuoussupply from their other plants. If our telecoms provider was unable tomeet their obligations, the Group would experience disruption. TheGroup have put contingency plans in place to minimise any suchdisruption.

The directors present their report and the audited financial statements ofthe Group for the year ended 31 December 2011.

ResultsThe results for the year ended 31 December 2011 are set out in theGroup profit and loss account on page 46. The loss after taxation and minority interests of the Group for the year was £1,462,000 (2010: profit £4,455,000).

DividendsThe directors recommend a final dividend of 13.7p per share in respectof 2011.

With the interim dividend of 6.4p per share paid on 5 October 2011,this will make a total dividend of 20.1p per share for the year.

Assuming approval of the recommended final dividend, the cost ofdividends for 2011 is:

£000

Interim 877Proposed final 1,877Total 2,754

The proposed final dividend will, if approved, be paid on 20 April 2012 to shareholders appearing on the register of members as at 30 March 2012.

Principal activitiesThe principal activity of the Company throughout the year has been to act as the holding company of the Archant group of companies.

The principal activities of the Group throughout the year were, andcontinue to be, publishing newspapers and magazines in print, onlineand through mobile technologies, contract printing of magazines andprinting newspapers.

Business review and future developmentsA review of the year and of the Group’s prospects is set out in theChairman’s statement on page 4, the Chief Executive’s report on page 6 and the Financial review on page 8, each of which aredeemed to be incorporated herein. The key performance indicators for the Group are primarily financial, and are included in the Financial review.

Report of the directors



PensionsThe pension deficit is carefully monitored and there are regular reviewswith the directors of the Archant Pension & Life Assurance SchemeTrustee Limited (“the Trustee Company”), which was established as acorporate Trustee and is independent of the Archant Group. The Groupand Trustee Company take all appropriate actions to mitigate thegrowth in pension liabilities. However, there are a number of factorswhich are outside our control, including interest rates, inflation rates, life expectancy and regulatory change.

Business continuity We are dependent on our technology, networks and printing capability and we have invested in our network and printinginfrastructure. During 2011 there was a full review of business continuity plans which are updated on an ongoing basis to reflectchanges in operations and systems.

Share capitalThe issued share capital of the Company is shown in Note 22 of thefinancial statements.

DirectorsThose who are currently directors, and who served as a directorthroughout the year, were:

RW JewsonSC CopemanJAE HustlerAD JeakingsBG McCarthyPJC TroughtonMJ WalshREJ Wyatt

Ms Sonita Alleyne was appointed as a non-executive director of theCompany with effect from 1 February 2012.

The interests in the shares of the Company of the directors serving at the year end are disclosed in the Directors’ remuneration report on page 38.

Corporate governanceThe Company is not bound by the provisions of “The UK CorporateGovernance Code”, but the Board remains committed to maintaininghigh standards of corporate governance.


(a) Board composition and appointmentThe Board currently comprises of nine directors, six of whom,including the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, are non-executive.

The directors have sought to ensure that the composition of theBoard is such that the skills and expertise present in the boardroom, whether derived from technical knowledge or practicalexperience, are those necessary for the Board to manage theCompany effectively.

The Articles of Association of the Company require that at eachAnnual General Meeting the number of directors most nearlyequating to one third (disregarding those appointed by the Boardsince the previous Annual General Meeting) retire by rotation.

(b) Role and operation of the Board While the Board as a whole is responsible to shareholders for the proper management of the Group, it has established the audit, nominations, pensions and remuneration committees (the“Committees”) as “standing” committees with particular responsibilities,and other committees are established from time to time to deal withspecific matters. The terms of reference of the Committees are set,and subject to periodic review, by the Board. The Board has alsoestablished a formal schedule of matters that it has determinedshould be decided upon only by the Board. In particular, the Boarddetermines the Group’s strategy, approves the Group’s business planand budget, monitors the Group’s financial performance, determinesthe Group’s funding strategy and reports to shareholders. TheBoard also retains responsibility for determining, within theconfines of the Company’s Articles of Association, the remunerationof the non-executive directors, save that the Chairman’s fee isdetermined by the remuneration committee meeting in his absence.

Meetings of the Board are minuted, as are those of the committeesof the Board, and all such minutes are considered and agreed at a later meeting of the relevant body, usually the meeting followingthat to which they relate. Directors are free to request that theirspecific views are recorded in those minutes and, in addition tothem having access to the advice and services of the CompanySecretary, a procedure exists whereby directors may take externaladvice at the expense of the Company in respect of matters ofconcern to them in their role as a director of the Company.

The Company Secretary has responsibility for ensuring that Boardprocedures are followed.

The roles of the Chairman and Chief Executive are separate andthe division of responsibilities has been formally set out.

In addition to the six meetings of the Board scheduled at thebeginning of the year and a full-day strategy meeting at which theBoard considered the future direction of the Group’s activities indetail, the Board met, either in full or via other duly constitutedcommittees, to consider specific matters on a number of otheroccasions in the year.



The Chairman meets from time to time with the other non-executivedirectors in the absence of the executive directors, usually on aninformal basis.

(c) Board committeesThe composition of the standing committees of the Board is set outon pages 12 and 13, together with directors’ biographical details.

The Board appoints to the standing committees those of theirnumber who it considers to have the most appropriate skills toenable each committee to carry out their allotted functions.Annually each committee undertakes a review of the committee’scompliance with its relevant terms of reference and reports itsfindings to the Board.

(i) AuditThe terms of reference of the audit committee, which were lastreviewed in 2008, assign to the committee, among other matters,responsibility for:

• reviewing the integrity of the Group’s financial statements,including the consistency of the application of, and changes to,accounting policies;

• considering and making recommendations to the Board inrelation to the appointment, reappointment and removal of theCompany’s auditors;

• overseeing the selection process for new auditors;• periodically assessing the independence and objectivity of the

Company’s auditors;• reviewing and approving the annual audit plan and agreeing

the audit fee;• reviewing the effectiveness of the audit;• keeping under review the effectiveness of the Group’s internal

controls and risk management systems.

(ii) NominationsThe terms of reference of the nominations committee, which werelast reviewed in 2008, include a requirement that, in respect ofeach proposed appointment to the Board, the committee evaluatethe balance of skills, knowledge and experience on the Board,and, in the light of that evaluation, prepare a description of therole and capabilities required for a particular appointment.

The committee is charged with identifying suitable candidates forappointment to the Board and with keeping under review the timecommitments of the non-executive directors with a view to ensuringthat those so appointed have sufficient time to properly dischargetheir duties in relation to the Company.

The terms of reference of the committee also require it to keepunder review the leadership needs of the Group, to give fullconsideration to succession planning for directors and other seniorexecutives and, in consultation with the Chairmen of those committees,to make recommendations to the Board concerning the compositionof the audit and remuneration committees.

(iii) RemunerationThe terms of reference of the remuneration committee, which werelast reviewed in 2011, provide that the committee is responsiblefor determining and agreeing with the Board the framework andpolicy for the remuneration of certain senior executives and, inconsultation with the Chairman and/or Chief Executive asappropriate, determining the total individual remuneration package(including pensions, bonuses, incentive payments and shareawards) of those executives. The senior executives concerned arethe Chief Executive, who is not consulted in relation to his ownremuneration, his direct reports, the executive directors of theCompany and the Company Secretary. The committee excludingthe Chairman also determines and agrees with the Board theremuneration of the Chairman.

The terms of reference of the committee require it to review thedesign and targets of all performance-related pay and long-termshare incentive schemes.

(iv) PensionsThe terms of reference of the pension committee were adopted by the Board in 2010. The pensions committee comprises theChairman, Chief Executive, Finance Director, Company Secretaryand Pensions Manager. The Committee monitors the performanceof the Group’s pension scheme and makes recommendations to theBoard in respect of the Group’s pension arrangements in light ofcurrent circumstances and anticipated developments.

(d) Board’s relations with shareholders Communication with shareholders is undertaken principally throughthe Annual Report, the Interim Statement and at the Annual GeneralMeeting.

There is also a programme of meetings between directors andmajor shareholders.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman remain willing, subject to issuesof commercial confidentiality, to discuss with any shareholder,irrespective of the size of their holding, matters of concern to themin relation to the affairs of the Group.

(e) Internal controlThe directors are responsible for the system of internal control in theCompany and its subsidiaries and for reviewing its effectiveness.

The control structure and procedures adopted are designed tomanage, rather than eliminate, the risk of failure to achievebusiness objectives, and can only provide reasonable, and notabsolute, assurance against material misstatement, errors, losses or fraud.




The key elements of internal control that have been established,and that were in operation throughout 2011 (and up to, andincluding, the date of this report), are:

• Authority to manage the Company’s operating units is delegated,subject to certain constraints determined by the Board, to theboard of the company concerned. Each of the principal operatingunits of each relevant company held regular managementmeetings that are attended by senior executives of the Group.Other matters of significance are reported where required;

• Annual financial and operational budgets and quarterly forecastsare prepared by operating units and reviewed and approved bysenior executives of the Group and, on a consolidated basis, bythe Board;

• Monthly management reports and accounts are prepared by alloperating units and include comparisons to budget, prior year andforecasts. Significant variances are highlighted and investigated;

• Formal procedures are used to assess material investments andcapital projects and appropriate due diligence is carried out if a business acquisition is proposed;

• The audit committee reviews the effectiveness of the financialcontrol systems and reports areas of concern to the Board.

Procedures have been implemented to monitor the systems forsafeguarding assets against unauthorised use; for maintainingproper accounting records; and for ensuring the reliability offinancial information within the business.

The Board reviewed the effectiveness of all material controls,including financial, operational, compliance and risk managementin 2011 through a formal procedure to identify, evaluate andmanage such significant risks as the Group faces.

Each operating unit prepares a risk matrix annually. The matrixdetails risks that it is thought could prevent the achievement of thestrategic objectives of that business unit and assesses the likelihoodof their occurrence. The measures in place, and proposed, inrespect of the monitoring and management of each such risk aredocumented. This information is reviewed with the Finance Director.Thereafter, senior management reviews the risks to the Group as awhole, focusing in particular on those factors that could impactupon achievement of the Group’s strategy.

The outcome of the risk review process is summarised and reportedupon annually to the audit committee, to whom responsibility forsuch annual review has been delegated by the Board.

(f) Operation of the audit committeeThe audit committee met on four occasions in 2011.

The committee reviewed the 2010 Financial Statements and the2011 Interim Statement prior to their publication.

The committee met with the auditors in 2011 to discuss the audit in respect of the year ended 31 December 2010, matters ofrelevance to the 2010 Financial Statements and the proposals

for the conduct of the audit in respect of 2011. Other mattersconsidered by the committee during 2011 included the Group’scorporate governance mechanisms, the annual review ofoperational risk and a report in relation to the Group’s insurances.

(g) Internal auditThe audit committee considers periodically whether the introductionof an internal audit function would strengthen the controlenvironment to the extent necessary to justify the additional costsand the impact on the operation of the business that such afunction would entail.

In the light of the scale and structure of the Group and the controlenvironment in place, the Board does not currently consider that theintroduction of an internal audit function would materially benefitthe Group.

(h) Non-audit fees paid to external auditors andauditor independenceThe audit committee has an ongoing responsibility for monitoringthe independence of the Company’s auditors.

In the light of the substantial knowledge that the Company’sauditors, Ernst & Young LLP (“Ernst & Young”), have built up of the Group and its affairs, the considerable level of technicalexpertise that they can make available to the Group and the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of obtaining that expertise from a party who already has a detailed knowledge of the Group, theBoard has not placed any restriction on the use by the Group ofErnst & Young in respect of non-audit matters.

Accordingly, during 2011, Ernst & Young advised the Group inrelation to tax compliance, corporate restructuring, general tax adviceand the provision of circulation certification to industry audit bodies.

In accordance with ethical standards, Ernst & Young has advisedthe Company in writing that the firm is independent within themeaning of regulatory and professional requirements and that theobjectivity of the audit engagement partner and audit staff is notimpaired. Having reviewed that opinion, the Board is of theopinion that the continuing provision to the Group by Ernst &Young of both audit and non-audit services has not compromisedthe independence of the auditors in relation to their audit of theaffairs of the Company and the Group in respect of 2011.

Sums payable to Ernst & Young in relation to the 2011 audit were£130,000 and in relation to non-audit services provided in theyear were £424,000.

(i) Operation of the nominations committeeThe nominations committee met on three occasions in 2011 toconsider the appointment of a non-executive director following theresignation of June de Moller, the renewal of the non-executivedirectors’ contracts for Richard Jewson and Peter Troughton and to agree the directors to stand for election and re-election at the2012 Annual General Meeting.





Statement of directors’ responsibilities in respect of thefinancial statements The directors are responsible for preparing the Report of the directorsand the financial statements in accordance with applicable law andregulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under the law the directors have elected toprepare the financial statements in accordance with United KingdomGenerally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom AccountingStandards and applicable law). Under company law the directors mustnot approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that theygive a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and theCompany and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period. Inpreparing those financial statements the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed,

subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in thefinancial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless itis inappropriate to assume that the Group will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records thatare sufficient to show and explain the Group’s and the Company’stransactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time thefinancial position of the Group and the Company and enable them toensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of theGroup and Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for theprevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Statement as to disclosure of information to auditorsSo far as each person who was a director at the date of approving this report was aware, there was no relevant audit information, beinginformation needed by the auditor in connection with preparing theirreport, of which the auditor was unaware. Having made enquiries offellow directors and the Group’s auditor, each director has taken all thesteps that he/she was obliged to take as a director in order to makehimself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establishthat the auditor was aware of that information.

Going concernThe Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affectits future development, its financial position, financial risk managementobjectives, its exposures to liquidity, interest rate, foreign exchange,credit and price risk, and details of its financial instruments, aredescribed in the Financial review on page 8 and Notes 24 and 25 to the financial statements.

The Group has considerable financial resources available, together with long-term contracts with principal suppliers. The Group’s currentbanking facilities expire in April 2013 and the Group intends tocommence negotiation for new facilities in the first half of 2012. As a consequence, the directors believe that the Group is well placedto manage its business risks successfully despite the current uncertaineconomic outlook.

After making enquiries, the directors have a reasonable expectation thatthe Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue inoperational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly thedirectors have continued to adopt the going concern basis in preparingthe accompanying financial statements.

EmployeesThe Group continued to provide employees with information about the Group throughout 2011 and to encourage staff involvement. Inaddition to local initiatives, methods of communication have includedan online news service, which is updated at least weekly via theArchant intranet and email, and the launch of a corporate socialnetwork to facilitate open communication between employees for bothcorporate and social information.

Adrian Jeakings undertook a series of presentations during 2011, towhich all employees were invited. Those attending were briefed on theGroup’s performance, new developments, the Group’s plans and othermatters of relevance to employees.

In compliance with the relevant legislation, the Group recognises Unitethe Union at its Thorpe Print Centre and the National Union ofJournalists in respect of relevant staff of Archant Norfolk, Suffolk and atArchant London’s Hackney Gazette, East London Advertiser andHampstead & Highgate Express series. Such recognition provides foran annual joint review by management and the relevant union of pay,hours and holidays of staff in the relevant bargaining unit.

The Group’s Information and Consultation Framework Constitution aimsto provide a means of informing and consulting with employees,through their elected representatives, on a regular basis so that theirviews can be taken into account in making decisions that may affecttheir interests. A training programme is offered to staff-electedrepresentatives.

Consultation also takes place on matters such as health and safety andpensions. Certain directors of the Trustee Company are employees ofthe Group nominated and elected by members of the scheme.




A forum comprising of the human resources director, managers andother staff with related responsibilities meets regularly and has thepromotion of best human resources practice around the Group as oneof its goals.

It is the Group’s policy that, within the constraints imposed by relevantlegislation, discrimination on such grounds as gender, race, ethnicorigin, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, age, marital status orreligious belief of applicants for employment and employees is notacceptable. As a result, the Group seeks to ensure that decisions onemployment, including recruitment, training, development, promotionand pay, are based on the individual’s ability to do the job and on hisor her experience and skills. Accordingly, disabled people are dealtwith in such respects on the same basis as able-bodied applicants andemployees. If a person becomes disabled while an employee everypractical effort is made to make such reasonable adjustments to enablethe individual concerned to continue in employment with the Group.

Supplier payment policyThe Group negotiates appropriate terms and conditions for itstransactions with suppliers and it is the Group’s policy that payments are made in accordance with those terms and conditions.

At 31 December 2011 the Group held 27 days’ purchasesoutstanding in trade creditors (2010: 20 days).

At 31 December 2011 the Company held nil days’ purchasesoutstanding in trade creditors (2010: nil days).

DonationsThe Group has three principal means of offering financial support tocharitable causes:

• Through its Archant Gold programme the Group matches sumsraised by the efforts of employees for their chosen causes;

• By matching at a given percentage sums donated to charity byemployees using the Charities Aid Foundation payroll giving facility(also known as “Give As You Earn”) – the Group also pays alladministration costs associated with this means of charitable giving;

• and by direct donations.

Donations made by the Group for charitable purposes during 2011totalled £66,000 (2010: £73,000).

In addition, the Group, through its publications, encourages readers tosupport a number of worthy causes, resulting in substantial sums beingraised.

Qualifying third-party indemnity provisionsIt has been the practice of the Company to indemnify its directors inaccordance with the Company’s Articles of Association and to themaximum extent permitted by law. Indemnities which constitutequalifying third-party indemnity provisions as defined by section 234 of the Companies Act 2006 have been in place throughout the year and as at the date of this report remain in force. Under theseindemnities the Company has indemnified the directors, in accordancewith the Company’s Articles of Association, in respect of liabilities thatmay attach to them in their capacity as directors of the Company or of associated companies.

AuditorsThe Company’s auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, have indicated theirwillingness to continue in office and, in accordance with section 485 ofthe Companies Act 2006, a resolution proposing their reappointmentwill be put to the members at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Annual General MeetingNotice of an Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on17 April 2012 is set out on page 87.

By order of the Board

JO EllisonSecretary2 March 2012



Directors’ remuneration report

Remuneration committeeThe remuneration committee is chaired by Richard Jewson, who is boththe Chairman and a non-executive director of the Company.

Peter Troughton and Richard Wyatt also served as members of thecommittee throughout the year. Mike Walsh was appointed to thecommittee during the year to replace June de Moller. All members of the committee are non-executive directors. The committee met on threeoccasions in 2011.

Policy on remuneration of executive directorsThe remuneration committee determines an overall remunerationpackage for each executive director of the Company, with the intentionof attracting and retaining high-quality executives capable of enablingthe Group to achieve its objectives.

In determining the elements of those packages the remunerationcommittee pays particular attention to remuneration levels in theindustry and may take advice from external remuneration and otherconsultants where it considers it appropriate to do so. The committeedid not use the services of any consultants with regards to thebenchmarking of the directors’ pay and benefits during the year.

The main elements of the remuneration packages of the executivedirectors of the Company are:

(a) Basic salaryBasic salary is subject to annual review by the remunerationcommittee with reference to such external data as the committeeconsiders relevant.

(b) Annual bonus (non-pensionable)Each of the executive directors of the Company participates in anannual cash bonus scheme. The payment of any such bonus isdependent in part upon the extent to which certain financial targetsof the Group are met, or exceeded, in relation to the particularyear. Payment of the balance depends on the extent to which the director achieves, or exceeds, personal goals in the year inquestion.

The targets and goals for each director are determined by theremuneration committee at the beginning of the financial year, and any such bonus is paid annually in arrears.

(c) Long-term incentive plans (“LTIPs”)The Archant 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2011 LTIP”) wasapproved at the Annual General Meeting held in April 2011 as a replacement for the 2006 LTIP. Awards under the 2006 LTIP were made in the form of restricted shares. Under the 2011 LTIPawards are in the form of options. Since the approval of the2011 LTIP no awards have been granted under the 2006 LTIP.

Both the 2006 and 2011 LTIP are designed to align closely theinterests of participating senior managers with those of shareholdersby setting performance targets measured over a three-year periodfor each plan cycle. The LTIPs are subject to certain restrictions and

the rules of each of the LTIPs stipulate the conditions that must bemet and/or the circumstances that must arise in order for thoserestrictions to be lifted or for the options to become exercisable.Any awards that do not meet the conditions within the specifiedtimeframe are forfeited or lapse. The maximum value of shares or options that may be awarded in any one year cannot exceed100% of a participant’s base annual salary.

For both plans, the conditions that must be met are based on thefinancial performance of the Group measured by the Group’sadjusted earnings per share aggregated over a period of threeyears.

The rules of both plans also set out the limited circumstances inwhich restrictions may be lifted or options exercised prior to theexpiry of the performance period.

2011 LTIPThe 2011 LTIP comprises of two main elements:

(i) an HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) approved option granted at the market price of the shares on the date of award. Themaximum value of the approved options is £30,000 per personbeing held at any one time. This element also comprises of adiscretionary taxable cash bonus equivalent to the value of theexerciseable approved option to enable participants to exercisetheir options at nil cost to them (with the exception of any taxliability due on the cash bonus); and

(ii) Nil-cost options which are granted to individuals who are eligiblefor a grant that is in excess of the HMRC approved option limit of£30,000.

2006 LTIPUntil April 2011 when the 2006 LTIP expired, the Trustee of theArchant 2002 Employee Share Trust acting in consultation with theremuneration committee granted nil cost awards over shares in theCompany to senior managers, including executive directors.

(d) Employee share schemesDuring 2003 the Company introduced an HMRC approved shareincentive plan (“the SIP”). Executive directors, if eligible, are entitledto participate in the SIP on the same basis as other eligibleemployees. More information concerning their participation in theSIP is set out on page 43. At the 2011 Annual General Meetingshareholder approval was given to extend the life of the SIP untilApril 2016.

(e) HMRC approved pensionEach of the executive directors is a member of the Archant Pension& Life Assurance Scheme (“the Scheme”) and, subject to theeligibility at the time of joining, is either a member of the DefinedBenefit Section or the Defined Contribution Section of the Scheme(further information is given in Note 32 to the financial statements).

For the Defined Benefit Section, members who commencedpensionable service prior to 31 May 1989 were not subject to thestatutory pensionable earnings cap introduced from 1 June 1989,




nor to the scheme specific earnings cap introduced from 6 April2006. From 1 December 2009, members’ pensionable earningswere capped at the level of pensionable earnings over the 12months to 1 December 2009 (the “2009 Cap”). Any pensionbenefits on pensionable earnings above this capped level areprovided through a Defined Contribution arrangement.

The Senior Management Defined Benefit Section provides apension of up to one-thirtieth of the participant’s final pensionablesalary (subject to the 2009 Cap) for each year of pensionableservice, so that members with at least 20 years’ pensionableservice can achieve a pension of two-thirds final pensionablesalary (subject to the 2009 Cap) at the normal retirement age of 65. Benefits may not exceed the maximum lifetime allowancelaid down by HMRC. Where a director with an accrued pensionentitlement in excess of the lifetime allowance participates in theDefined Benefit Section, the Company may make alternativearrangements in respect of that excess, although suchcircumstances have not yet arisen.

The Defined Contribution Section provides a pension at retirementbased on the value of the member’s fund, including investmentreturns, the type of annuity chosen and annuity rates in place atthat time.

From 1 May 2009 the Company introduced SMART, a salarysacrifice arrangement whereby each Scheme member was given the option to have their pension contributions paid by theCompany and the member’s contractual pay was reduced by the amount of these contributions. Each executive director opted to have their contributions paid by salary sacrifice.

Adrian Jeakings is a member of the Senior Management DefinedBenefit Section of the Scheme and was subject to the statutorypensionable earnings cap up to 5 April 2006, the scheme-specificearnings cap up to 1 December 2009, and the 2009 Cap sincethat date. The Company has agreed to pay Adrian Jeakings a non-pensionable supplement of 25 per cent of pensionableearnings above each such cap.

Johnny Hustler is a member of the Senior Management DefinedBenefit Section of the Scheme and has not been subject to thestatutory earnings cap or the scheme-specific earnings cap but is subject to the lifetime limit. Since 1 December 2009, hispensionable earnings have been restricted by the 2009 Cap.Member pension contributions on any pensionable earnings abovethe 2009 Cap are paid by the Company under salary sacrificeinto the Defined Contribution top-up arrangement at a rate in therange 2-7 per cent and the Company also matches thosecontributions at a rate of 1.5 times.

Brian McCarthy is a member of the Senior Management DefinedContribution Section of the Scheme and until 1 May 2009contributed a percentage of his pensionable salary within therange of 2-7 per cent. Since the introduction of the salary sacrificearrangement on that date, the Company pays the member’scontribution in return for an equivalent reduction in the member’spay. In addition the Company matches these contributions at a rate of 2.5 times.

For the executive directors the Scheme has taken out a lifeinsurance policy under which a lump sum of four times “ReferenceSalary” (member’s salary before any reduction for salary sacrifice)is payable on death in service. Spouse’s and/or dependents’pensions are also payable for death in service.

The Company may provide an immediate pension to, or otherbenefits to acquire a pension for, executive directors retiring on thegrounds of either permanent total or permanent partial incapacity.

(f) Other benefitsIn common with those other senior executives of the Group, theexecutive directors are offered a company car. Those who haveelected not to have the use of a car provided to them by theGroup are paid an annual cash sum as determined by thecommittee in lieu of such provision.

Each of the executive directors may elect to have the Companymake the benefits of private health insurance available forthemselves and, if they so choose, their spouse or partner and/or children.



Policy on remuneration of non-executive directorsSubject to the restrictions contained in the Articles of Association of the Company, the fees of non-executive directors are determined by theChairman and executive directors in the light of such external advice as they consider appropriate to take and recommendations made to them by the Chairman and Chief Executive. The Chairman’s fee is determined by the remuneration committee in his absence.

Service contracts

(a) Executive directorsIt is the policy of the Company that contracts with executive directors should continue until between 60 and 65, subject to earlier termination byeither party on 12 months’ notice in writing, save where the agreement may be terminated summarily for a significant and/or specified breach.

(b) Non-executive directorsIt is the policy of the Company to engage non-executive directors on fixed-term contracts for periods of three years. Such contracts, which aregenerally renewable, are, however, subject to termination on one month’s notice, or three months’ notice in the case of the Chairman.

Directors’ emoluments

Salary/fees Performance- Other benefits Totalrelated bonus

2011 2011 2011 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000 £000

RW Jewson 109 -- -- 109 109SC Copeman 25 -- -- 25 25JAE Hustler1 135 39 16 190 161AD Jeakings2 284 142 14 440 445BG McCarthy 162 58 12 232 240PJC Troughton 29 -- -- 29 29MJ Walsh 25 -- -- 25 22REJ Wyatt 25 -- -- 25 25JF de Moller3 8 -- -- 8 25

Total 802 239 42 1,083 1,081

1 JAE Hustler’s contractual working days per week changed in April 2011 from four days to five days following his appointment as managingdirector of Archant Anglia and from August 2011 onwards reverted to four days.

2 Highest-paid serving director as at 31 December 2011.3 JF de Moller resigned from the Board with effect from 13 April 2011.

Adrian Jeakings has been permitted to retain those fees payable to him in respect of his directorship of PA Group Limited and receives noremuneration in relation to acting as a governor of Norwich School, as a director of Norwich School Limited, as a member of the Audit Committee of the University of East Anglia or as a member of the Board of the Newspaper Society.




Directors’ accrued pension entitlements

Adrian Jeakings and Johnny Hustler were both members of the Group’s Senior Management Defined Benefit Section of the Scheme during 2011.

The following table shows the members’ contributions, the increase in accrued entitlement during the period and the accrued entitlement at the endof the period.

Age at 31 Accrued Real Inflation Increase / AccruedDecember pension 31 increase / (decrease) pension 31

2011 December (decrease) in accrued December2010 in accrued pension in 2011

pension the year£000 £000 £000 £000 £000

AD Jeakings 53 34.0 1.6) 1.9 3.5) 37.5JAE Hustler 56 93.3 (6.2) 5.2 (1.0) 92.3

The following table sets out the transfer value of the directors’ accrued benefits, calculated in a manner determined by the Trustee Company of theScheme having taken advice from the Scheme Actuary:

Transfer Transfer Other Increase in Contributions* Transfervalue value of real changes to transfer value

31 December increase / transfer value in the 31 December2010 (decrease) value period 2011

in accrued net ofpension contributions

net ofcontributions

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

AD Jeakings 707.6 32.9) 200.3 233.2 8.5 949.3JAE Hustler 1,513.3 (133.0) 458.1 325.1 8.4 1,846.8

*These include notional contributions paid under the salary sacrifice arrangement introduced with effect from 1 May 2009.

The transfer values disclosed above do not represent a sum paid or payable to the individual director, but they represent a liability of the pensionscheme. The above figures exclude additional voluntary contributions.

Until 30 April 2009 Adrian Jeakings contributed seven per cent of his pensionable earnings up to the Scheme’s earnings cap. Johnny Hustler also contributed seven per cent of his pensionable earnings, and was not subject to the Scheme’s earnings cap. From 1 May 2009 membercontributions were replaced by SMART contributions. Since 1 December 2009, such contributions have been paid on pensionable earningsrestricted by the 2009 Cap.

Other pension provisionsThe Company contributed £28,420 (2010: £28,210) to Brian McCarthy’s Defined Contribution pension fund during the year. This figure excludescontributions paid by the Company on behalf of the member under the salary sacrifice arrangement introduced with effect from 1 May 2009.

Contributions made by the Company during the year in respect of pension arrangements for Adrian Jeakings in addition to the Scheme until theend of February 2011 were £6,775 (2010: £40,125), which were paid into a SIPP. From 1 March 2011, Adrian Jeakings was paid 25% ofpensionable earnings above the 2009 Cap (£33,875) as a cash supplement (2010: nil).

In 2011 both Johnny Hustler and the Company paid ‘Defined Contribution top-up contributions’ on his pensionable earnings above the 2009Cap. Johnny Hustler’s contribution was matched at a rate of 1.5 times, equating to an employer contribution rate of 10.5 per cent. The Companypaid £1,430 Defined Contribution top-up contributions (2010: £44 cash in lieu of Defined Contribution top-up contributions).




Directors’ interests in shares

The interests in the shares of the Company of those individuals who were directors at the year end were as follows:

20p ordinary shares 20p ordinary sharesat 1 January 2011 at 31 December 2011

RW Jewson 35,194 35,697

57,222 57,222SC Copeman 24,500 1,2 24,500 1,2

8,826 8,826JAE Hustler4 36,800 3 30,800 3

21,602 21,602AD Jeakings4 98,400 3 84,000 3

4,728 4,728BG McCarthy4 49,050 3 44,800 3

91,755 91,755PJC Troughton 509,930 1,5 --

MJ Walsh 5,000 5,000

REJ Wyatt 10,000 10,000

1 Non-beneficial.2 Joint with others.3 Restricted shares awarded under 2006 LTIP as shown on page 44 and subject to risk of forfeiture.4 The director was invited to participate in the SIP on the same basis as other eligible employees. As a result, the director has obtained, and as at31 December 2011 retained, the following awards of shares under the SIP, as shown on page 43. No awards were made under the SIP during2011.

5 During the year the shares from a family trust were distributed to the beneficiaries.




Date of Award 6 October 17 June 28 June 31 May 30 May 30 May 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Price paid for Partnership Shares (pence per Share) 1000 1250 1500 1325 1150 800

AD JeakingsPartnership Shares -- 6 5 5 6 9Matching Shares -- 12 10 10 12 18Free Shares -- 22 19 22 25 36Total -- 40 34 37 43 63

BG McCarthyPartnership Shares -- -- 5 5 6 9Matching Shares -- -- 10 10 12 18Free Shares -- -- 19 22 25 36Total -- -- 34 37 43 63

JAE HustlerPartnership Shares 7 6 5 5 6 --Matching Shares 14 12 10 10 12 --Free Shares 28 22 19 22 25 36Total 49 40 34 37 43 36

Total 49 80 102 111 129 162

All such shares, none of which are included in the numbers set out in the principal table, are currently held by the SIP Trustee pursuant to the rules ofthe SIP and, save in the case of the Partnership Shares, are subject to forfeiture in certain circumstances.

No sum was paid or payable in respect of the Matching Shares or the Free Shares.

As far as the Company is aware, none of the directors of the Company at 31 December 2011 had any interests in any shares in the Company or any of its subsidiaries at 1 January 2011, 31 December 2011 or 2 March 2012 save as disclosed above and in the section on page 44headed ‘Long-term incentive plans’.

Options and invitations to subscribe held by directorsSave as disclosed in the section on page 44 headed ‘Long-term incentive plans’ as far as the Company is aware no director had optionsoutstanding over any share in the Company at any time during 2011 and none has been granted any option over any such share since the end of that year.


Share incentive plan



Long-term incentive plansAwards of options made under the 2011 LTIP to those individuals who were directors of the Company at any time during the year and whichremained outstanding at any time during the year were as follows:

Awards Granted Exercised Awards held Market Exercise Date from Date of held at during during at 31 price on price which expiry of

1 Jan 2011 period period Dec 2011 exercise £ exercisable options

AD Jeakings -- 41,000 -- 41,000 -- 4.00 16 June 2014 16 June 2021JAE Hustler -- 20,000 -- 20,000 -- 4.00 16 June 2014 16 June 2021BG McCarthy -- 22,000 -- 22,000 -- 4.00 16 June 2014 16 June 2021

Awards of restricted shares made under the 2006 LTIP to those individuals who were directors of the Company at any time during the year andwhich remained outstanding at any time during the year were as follows:

Cycle ending Date of Market Awards Awarded Forfeited Awards31 Dec award price at time held at during during outstanding at

of award 1 Jan 2011 the year the year 31 Dec 2011

Number Number Number NumberPence of 20p of 20p of 20p of 20p

per share ordinary shares ordinary shares ordinary shares ordinary shares

AD Jeakings 2010 17.01.08 875 14,400 -- 14,400 --2011 06.05.09 350 42,000 -- -- 42,0002012 14.05.10 525 42,000 -- 42,000

JAE Hustler 2010 17.01.08 875 6,000 -- 6,000 --2011 06.05.09 350 16,800 -- -- 16,8002012 14.05.10 525 14,000 -- 14,000

BG McCarthy 2010 17.01.081 875 4,250 -- 4,250 --2011 06.05.09 350 22,400 -- -- 22,4002012 14.05.10 525 22,400 -- -- 22,400

1 Award granted prior to being appointed as an executive director.

Where reference is made in this document to market price at a date prior to 8 June 2004 this is the price which, at the relevant time, the Boardhad indicated it was willing to offer for sale shares which a shareholder had asked it to offer for sale pursuant to Article 39 of the Articles. Wherereference is made in this document to market price at a date on or after 8 June 2004 this is the price at which shares had most recently then beentraded via the Matched Bargain Facility operated in respect of shares in the Company. Any values of shares in Archant referred to in this documenthave been calculated solely by reference to such prices.

Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by

RW JewsonChairman2 March 2012




Independent auditor’s report to the members of Archant Limited (company number 4126997)

We have audited the financial statements of Archant Limited for the year ended 31 December 2011 which comprise the Group profit and loss account, the Group statement of total recognised gains and losses,the Group reconciliation of movements in shareholders’ funds, theGroup and Company balance sheets, the Group statement of cashflows and the related notes 1 to 32. The financial reporting frameworkthat has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UnitedKingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally AcceptedAccounting Practice).

This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, inaccordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006.Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to theCompany’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extentpermitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyoneother than the Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditorAs explained more fully in the Statement of directors’ responsibilities setout on page 36, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law andInternational Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standardsrequire us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s EthicalStandards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statementsAn audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosuresin the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance thatthe financial statements are free from material misstatement, whethercaused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether theaccounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s and the parentcompany’s circumstances and have been consistently applied andadequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accountingestimates made by the directors; and the overall presentation of thefinancial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the Report and financial statements to identifymaterial inconsistencies with the audited financial statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements orinconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statementsIn our opinion the financial statements:• give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the parent

company’s affairs as at 31 December 2011 and of the Group’s lossfor the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United KingdomGenerally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of theCompanies Act 2006.

Opinion on other matter prescribed by the CompaniesAct 2006In our opinion the information given in the Report of the directors for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report byexceptionWe have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where theCompanies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent

company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been receivedfrom branches not visited by us; or

• the parent company financial statements are not in agreement withthe accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are notmade; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we requirefor our audit.

Tony McCartney Senior statutory auditorfor and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLPStatutory AuditorCambridge2 March 2012


2011 2010Notes £000 £000

Group turnoverContinuing operations 2 135,057 139,253

Operating profit before amortisation and exceptional itemsContinuing operations 2 10,415 14,752

Amortisation of goodwill and other intangible assets 12 (4,616) (4,617)Impairment of intangible assets 4 - (500)Restructuring costs 4 (3,095) (1,484)Other exceptional income 4 - 21

Group operating profit 2,3 2,704 8,172Share of operating results in associate - (202)

Total operating profit: Group and share of associate 2,704 7,970Income from investments 6 25 4Interest payable 7 (1,648) (1,813)Other finance expense 32 (60) (435)

Profit from ordinary activities before taxation 1,021 5,726Tax on profit from ordinary activities 8 (2,549) (1,271)

(Loss)/profit from ordinary activities after taxation (1,528) 4,455Minority interests 66 --

(Loss)/profit for the financial year attributable to members of the Company (1,462) 4,455

(Loss)/earnings per share – Basic 11 (10.6p) 32.0pContinuing operations 11 (10.6p) 32.0pDiluted 11 (10.6p) 31.1pAdjusted 11 43.1p) 64.0p

There is no material difference between the (losses)/profits calculated on an historical cost basis and those presented above.


Group profit and loss accountfor the year ended 31 December 2011

46-90 Accounts-calendar.qxp:ARA_05 accounts pp46-90 9/3/12 13:04

2011 2010Note £000 £000

(Loss)/profit for the year excluding share of results of associate (1,462) 4,657Share of operating results in associate -) (202)

(Loss)/profit for the financial year attributable to members of the parent company (1,462) 4,455Actuarial (losses)/gains recognised on defined benefit pension scheme 32 (15,790) 3,806Movement on deferred tax asset associated with pension scheme deficit 4,269 (1,066)Change in deferred tax asset on pension scheme deficit arising from a change in the rate of corporation tax (606) (158)

Total recognised gains and losses relating to the year (13,589) 7,037

2011 2010Note £000 £000

Opening shareholders’ funds 57,060 53,127

Total recognised gains and losses (13,589) 7,037Dividends 10 (2,779) (2,766)Issue of new shares -) 327Purchases of own shares (518) (665)

Total movements in the year (16,886) 3,933

Closing shareholders’ funds 40,174 57,060


Group statement of total recognised gains and lossesfor the year ended 31 December 2011

Group reconciliation of movements in shareholders’ fundsfor the year ended 31 December 2011



Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Notes £000 £000 £000 £000

Fixed assetsIntangible assets 12 54,595 59,059 -. -.Tangible assets 13 32,318 35,202 -. -.Investments 14 43 43 166,863 138,764

86,956 94,304 166,863 138,764

Current assetsStocks 15 1,359 1,391 -. --Debtors 16 21,368 25,486 85,492 213,056Cash at bank and in hand 17 4,194 1,779 9 12

26,921 28,656 85,501 213,068

Creditors – amounts falling due within one year 18 27,815 27,077 6,840 4,294

Net current (liabilities)/assets (894) 1,579 78,661 208,774

Total assets less current liabilities 86,062 95,883 245,524 347,538

Creditors – amounts falling due after more than one year 19 21,237 24,863 213,320 307,240Provisions for liabilities 21 1,956 2,443 500 500

Net assets excluding pension scheme liability 62,869 68,577 31,704 39,798Defined benefit pension liability 32 22,709 11,517 -. --

Net assets including pension scheme liability 40,160 57,060 31,704 39,798

Capital and reservesCalled-up share capital 22 2,872 2,872 2,872 2,872Share premium account 23 2,616 2,616 2,616 2,616Revaluation reserve 23 285 293 -. --Other reserves 23 2,654 3,172 (5,065) (4,547)Profit and loss account 23 31,747 48,107 31,281 38,857

Shareholders’ funds 40,174 57,060 31,704 39,798Minority interests (14) -- -. --

40,160 57,060 31,704 39,798

RW JewsonChairman

BG McCarthyFinance Director

2 March 2012

Balance sheetsas at 31 December 2011


2011 2010Notes £000 £000

Cash flow from operating activities 26 13,095 13,725Returns on investments and servicing of finance 27 (1,355) (1,229)Taxation (338) (1,750)Capital expenditure and financial investment 27 (1,789) (2,429)Acquisitions and disposals 27 (72) (536)Equity dividends paid 10 (2,779) (2,766)

Cash inflow before use of liquid resources and financing 6,762 5,015Financing 27 (4,518) (8,407)

Increase/(decrease) in cash 28 2,244 (3,392)

Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt (Note 28)

2011 2010£000 £000

Increase/(decrease) in cash 2,244 (3,392)Cash flow from decrease in loans 4,000 8,000Loan issue costs -- 61Cash outflow from lease financing -- 8

Change in net debt resulting from cash flows 6,244 4,677Finance leases acquired with subsidiary undertakings -- (8)Amortisation of loan issue costs (374) (409)

Change in net debt 5,870 4,260Net debt at 1 January (23,257) (27,517)

Net debt at 31 December (17,387) (23,257 )


Group statement of cash flowsfor the year ended 31 December 2011


Notes to the financial statementsfor the year ended 31 December 2011

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared under the historical costconvention modified by the revaluation of certain freehold andleasehold properties, and in accordance with UK Generally AcceptedAccounting Practice.

The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affectits future development, its financial position, financial risk managementobjectives, its exposures to liquidity, interest rate, foreign exchange,credit and price risk, and details of its financial instruments, aredescribed in the Financial review on pages 8 to 11 and Notes 24 and 25 to the financial statements.

The Group has considerable financial resources available, together withlong-term contracts with principal suppliers. As a consequence, thedirectors believe that the Group is well placed to manage its businessrisks successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook.

After making enquiries, the directors have a reasonable expectation thatthe Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue inoperational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, thedirectors have continued to adopt the going concern basis in preparingthe financial statements.

Basis of consolidationThe Group financial statements consolidate the financial statements ofthe Company and all its subsidiary undertakings drawn up to 31December each year. No profit and loss account is presented for theCompany, as permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Group owns 50% of the ordinary share capital of Local VouchersLimited. The Shareholders’ Agreement relating to Local Vouchers Limitedcontains a schedule of Reserved Matters any one of which requires theprior written consent of the Group. Accordingly, the Group exercisesdominant influence over the management of the company and accountsfor this investment as a subsidiary undertaking.

Entities in which the Group holds an interest on a long-term basis andare jointly controlled by the Group and one or more other venturersunder a contractual arrangement are treated as joint ventures. In theGroup financial statements, joint ventures are accounted for using thegross equity method.

Entities, other than subsidiary undertakings, in which the Group has aparticipating interest and over whose operating and financial policiesthe Group exercises a significant influence are treated as associates. Inthe Group financial statements associates are accounted for using theequity method.

Intangible fixed assets(a) Newspaper and magazine titles

On the acquisition of a business the cost of investment is allocatedbetween net tangible assets, goodwill and newspaper or magazinetitles on a fair value basis. The fair value of newspaper titles isassessed by the directors at the date of acquisition, supported by acomparative view of similar transactions within the newspaperindustry. The fair value of magazine titles is limited to an amount thatdoes not create or increase any negative goodwill arising on theacquisition.

Newspaper and magazine titles are amortised on a straight linebasis over their estimated useful lives, subject to a maximum of 20years.

The carrying value of newspaper and magazine titles is reviewed forimpairment at the end of the first full year following acquisition andin other periods if events or changes in circumstances indicate thatthe carrying value may not be recoverable.

Newspaper and magazine titles created within the business are notcapitalised and expenditure is charged against profits in the year inwhich it is incurred.

Newspaper and magazine titles acquired prior to 31 December1997 were classified as goodwill and written off directly toreserves.

(b) Goodwill Goodwill arising on acquisitions prior to 31 December 1997 wasset off directly against reserves and has not been reinstated onimplementation of FRS 10.

Goodwill arising on acquisitions since 1 January 1998 iscapitalised, classified as an asset on the balance sheet, andamortised on a straight line basis over its useful economic life,subject to a maximum of 20 years.

Goodwill is reviewed for impairment at the end of the first fullfinancial year following the acquisition and in other periods if eventsor changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may notbe recoverable.

If a subsidiary, associate or business is subsequently sold or closed,any goodwill arising on acquisition that was written off directly toreserves is taken into account in determining the profit or loss on saleor closure.




1. Accounting policies (continued)

Tangible fixed assetsFreehold properties are carried at their frozen 1996 valuations, aspermitted by FRS 15 “Tangible Fixed Assets”, as adjusted forsubsequent additions, disposals, depreciation and impairment, if any.

All other assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation andimpairment, if any. Such cost includes the cost of refurbishing orreplacing part of an asset when that cost is incurred, provided that therecognition criteria are met.

Freehold land is not depreciated. Depreciation and amortisation isprovided on all other assets on a straight line basis estimated to writeoff the cost or valuation of those assets, less their estimated residualvalues, over their useful lives at the following rates:

Freehold buildings 2%Leasehold buildings - long 2%

- short Period of leasePlant, equipment and vehicles Between 7% and 33%

Website development costsCosts incurred in the development and maintenance of websites areexpensed as incurred, and are only capitalised if the criteria specifiedin UITF 29 “Website development costs” are met.

LeasesAssets acquired under finance leases are capitalised in the balancesheet and depreciated over the shorter of their respective lease termsand the estimated useful lives of the assets.

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to income on astraight line basis over the term of the lease.

Stocks Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Costincludes all costs incurred in bringing each product to its presentlocation and condition.

Raw materials, consumables and goods for resale are stated atpurchase cost on a first-in, first-out basis.

Deferred taxationDeferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that haveoriginated but not reversed at the balance sheet date where transactions orevents have occurred at that date that will result in an obligation to paymore, or a right to pay less or to receive more, tax, with the followingexceptions:

• provision is made for tax on gains arising from the revaluation (andsimilar fair value adjustments) of fixed assets, and gains on disposal offixed assets that have been rolled over into replacement assets, only tothe extent that, at the balance sheet date, there is a binding agreementto dispose of the assets concerned. However, no provision is madewhere, on the basis of all available evidence at the balance sheet date,it is more likely than not that the taxable gain will be rolled over intoreplacement assets and charged to tax only when the replacementassets are sold;

• deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that the directorsconsider that it is more likely than not that there will be suitable taxableprofits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing differencescan be deducted.

Deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that areexpected to apply in the periods in which timing differences reverse, basedon tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balancesheet date.

ProvisionsProvisions are recognised when the Group has a present obligation as aresult of a past event, and it is probable that the Group will be required tosettle that obligation. Provisions are measured at the directors’ best estimateof the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the balance sheetdate, and are discounted to present value where the effect is material.

Foreign currency transactionsTransactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rates ruling at thedates of the transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated inforeign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates ruling at thebalance sheet date. All exchange differences are taken to the profit andloss account.

The trading results of foreign subsidiary undertakings are translated intosterling at average rates for the year. All other exchange differences aretaken to the profit and loss account.




PensionsThe defined benefit pension scheme operated by the Group requirescontributions to be made to separately administered funds. The schemewas closed to new members in February 1998 from which timemembership of a defined contribution plan is available.

The cost of providing benefits under the defined benefit scheme isdetermined using the projected unit method, which attributes entitlementto benefits to the current period (to determine current service cost) and tothe current and prior periods (to determine the present value of definedbenefit obligations) and is based on actuarial advice. Past service costsare recognised in profit or loss on a straight line basis over the vestingperiod or immediately if the benefits have vested. When a settlement orcurtailment occurs the change in the present value of the schemeliabilities and the fair value of the scheme assets reflects the gain or losswhich is recognised in the profit and loss account. Losses are measuredat the date that the employer becomes demonstrably committed to thetransaction and gains when all parties whose consent is required areirrevocably committed to the transaction.

The interest element of the defined benefit cost represents the change inpresent value of the scheme obligations resulting from the passage oftime, and is determined by applying the discount rate to the openingpresent value of the benefit obligation, taking into account materialchanges in the obligation during the year. The expected return onscheme assets is based on an assessment made at the beginning of theyear of long-term market returns on scheme assets, adjusted for theeffect on the fair value of scheme assets of contributions received andbenefits paid during the year. The difference between the expectedreturn on scheme assets and the interest cost is recognised in the profitand loss account as other finance income or expense.

Actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the Group statementof total recognised gains and losses in the period in which they occur.Any difference between the expected return on scheme assets and thatactually achieved and any differences that arise from experience orassumption changes are also charged through the Group statement oftotal recognised gains and losses.

The defined benefit pension asset or liability in the Group balance sheetcomprises the present value of the defined benefit obligation (using adiscount rate based on high quality corporate bonds) less any pastservice cost not yet recognised and less the fair value of scheme assetsout of which the obligations are to be settled directly, net of deferredtax. Fair value is based on market price information and in the case ofquoted securities is the published bid price. The value of a net pension

benefit asset is limited to the amount that may be recovered eitherthrough reduced contributions or agreed refunds from the scheme.

The Group operates a defined contribution pension scheme, which isopen to eligible employees. The Group’s contributions are charged tothe profit and loss account in the year in which they are payable.

Additionally, the Group contributes to two small Group personalpension plans for certain employees who are not participants in one of the Group’s pension schemes.

The Group also makes provision for the capital value of unfundedpensions to certain current and former employees in accordance withindependent actuarial advice.

Revenue recognitionRevenue comprises the fair value of the consideration received orreceivable for the sale of goods and services in the ordinary course ofthe Group’s activities. Revenue is shown net of value added tax, tradediscounts and anticipated returns after eliminating sales within the Group.

The Group recognises revenue when the amount of revenue can bereliably measured, it is probable that future economic benefits will flowto the entity and when specific criteria have been met for each of theGroup’s activities as follows:

• Advertising and circulation revenues are recognised on publicationor display.

• Subscription revenues are recognised over the periods to which thesubscriptions relate.

• Printing and contract publishing revenues are recognised on deliveryof the publication.

• Other revenues are recognised when the goods or services havebeen supplied or provided to the customer, and there is a contractualobligation for the customer to pay for those goods or services.






Share-based payments – equity-settled transactionsThe cost of equity-settled transactions with employees is measured byreference to the fair value at the date at which they are granted and isrecognised as an expense over the vesting period, which ends on thedate on which the relevant employees become fully entitled to theaward. Fair value is determined by reference to the price at whichshares in the Company have most recently traded through the MatchedBargain Facility.

At each balance sheet date before vesting, the cumulative expense iscalculated, representing the extent to which the vesting period hasexpired and the management’s best estimate of the achievement orotherwise of non-market conditions and of the number of equityinstruments that will ultimately vest. The movement in cumulative expensesince the previous balance sheet date is recognised in the incomestatement, with a corresponding entry in equity.

Derivative instrumentsThe Group uses interest rate swaps to limit the Group’s exposure tofluctuations in interest rates. The Group’s criteria for interest rate swapsare:

• The instrument must be related to an asset or a liability;• It must change the character of the interest rate by converting a

variable rate to a fixed rate or vice versa.

Interest differentials are recognised by accruing with net interestpayable. Interest rate swaps are not revalued to fair value or shown onthe Group balance sheet at the year end. If they are terminated early,the gain or loss is spread over the remaining maturity of the originalinstrument.



2. Segmental analysis

2011 2010Turnover £000 £000

Continuing operationsNewspapers and printing 89,862 94,357Magazines and contract publishing 45,195 44,896

135,057 139,253

2011 2010Group operating profit Notes £000 £000

Continuing operationsNewspapers and printing 5,541 9,249Magazines and contract publishing 4,744 5,642

10,285 14,891Common costs net of recharges 130 (139)

Operating profit before amortisation, impairment and exceptional items 10,415 14,752Amortisation of intangible assets 12 (4,616) (4,617)Impairment of intangible assets 4 -) (500)Exceptional items 4 (3,095) (1,463)

2,704 8,172

The British Connection, Inc. had magazine sales in the United States of America equivalent to £1,829,000 (2010: £1,591,000) and generatedan operating loss equivalent to £64,000 (2010: profit £113,000). All other operations are carried out in the UK.

The Group’s magazines had combined export sales of:

2011 2010Turnover by destination £000 £000

Europe 554 505USA 1,926 1,988Rest of the world 280 255

2,760 2,748

All other sales were made in the United Kingdom.

All segments of the business have continued throughout 2011.




2. Segmental analysis (continued)

2011 2010Net assets £000 £000

Newspapers and magazines printing and publishing 61,169 81,441Central net liabilities (21,009) (24,381)

40,160 57,060

The distinction between newspapers and magazines is becoming increasingly blurred as an increasing amount of activity is shared across different publishing centreswhich are now principally geographically based, with shared services across many functions. Since the Group legal restructuring on 16 November 2011, all of the Group’s trading assets and liabilities are held by Archant Community Media Limited (formerly Archant Regional Limited). It is therefore not possible to separatelyidentify the net assets employed in newspapers and magazines as separate segments. The comparative data for 2010 has been restated to reflect the new Groupstructure.

Central net liabilities comprise bank loans and overdrafts, current and deferred taxation and certain unallocated current liabilities, less bank and cash balances andcertain unallocated fixed and current assets.

3. Group operating profit

2011 2010Notes £000 £000

Turnover from continuing operations 135,057 139,253

Operating costsChange in stocks of finished goods and goods for resale 5 5Raw materials and consumables 10,398 9,596Staff costs 5 55,862 55,453Depreciation of tangible fixed assets 13 4,703 4,720Amortisation of intangible assets 12 4,616 4,617Losses on disposal of tangible fixed assets 36 28Profit on disposal of fixed asset investments (66) --Rental of property 1,584 1,398Rental of plant and equipment 2,214 1,991Auditors’ remuneration:

Group audit 130 130Tax compliance -- 70Other services 424 40

Other operating charges 49,352 51,070

129,258 129,118

Operating profit before impairment and exceptional items 5,799 10,135

Impairment of intangible assets 4 -- (500)Exceptional items 4 (3,095) (1,463)

Operating profit 2,704 8,172




4. Exceptional items

Cash flow impact Profit and loss account2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Recognised in arriving at operating profitImpairment of intangible assets -- -- -- (500)Restructuring costs (2,603) (1,704) (2,447) (1,484)Group legal restructuring (216) -- (648) --Costs incurred to reduce defined benefit pension liabilities -- (18) -- 21Refinancing costs (278) -- --

Total exceptional items (2,819) (2,000) (3,095) (1,963)

Restructuring costsThe restructuring costs arise from redundancies and related property exit and relocation costs resulting from a number of initiatives to improve theproductivity of the operating divisions.

Group legal restructuringDuring 2011, the Group undertook a legal restructuring to better reflect the management structure of the business. The simplified structure hasgreater flexibility for changes in management responsibilities, substantially reduces the number of active companies in the Group and will reducethe costs of regulatory compliance.

Costs incurred to reduce defined benefit pension liabilitiesThe credit in 2010 is the release of amounts over-accrued at 31 December 2009 in relation to the reduction in defined benefit pensionliabilities.

Refinancing costsDuring 2009, the Company negotiated new banking facilities to replace a five-year revolving advances facility and two overdraft facilities.

All exceptional items recognised in arriving at operating profit arise from the continuing operations of the Group.



5. Staff costs

Group CompanyAverage monthly number of staff 2011 2010 2011 2010

Newspapers and printing 1,443 1,488 -- --Magazines and contract publishing 455 462 -- --Group head office 31 32 31 32

1,929 1,982 31 32

Full-time equivalents 1,777 1,846 28 29




5. Staff costs (continued)

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Pay and benefits £000 £000 £000 £000

Wages and salaries 47,118 47,188 1,538 1,891Social security costs 4,616 4,541 191 228Other pension costs 4,128 3,966 260 270

55,862 55,695 1,989 2,389Credit for share-based payments -- (242) -- (95)

55,862 55,453 1,989 2,294

The average monthly number of staff shown above for the Group head office includes five (2010: six) non-executive directors of the Company.

From 1 May 2009 the Group introduced a salary sacrifice arrangement which had the effect of converting the Pension and Life AssuranceScheme into a non-contributory scheme with the employee pension contributions being replaced by additional employer contributions, known asSMART Pension contributions, and there is an equivalent reduction in the member’s contractual pay.

Current members of the Scheme were automatically enrolled into the SMART Pension arrangement, unless they chose to opt out.

Directors’ emoluments and other benefits are disclosed in the Directors’ remuneration report on page 38.

Share-based paymentsThe Group operates two Long-Term Incentive Plans and a Share Incentive Plan all of which may result in eligible employees of the Group receivingpart of their remuneration in the form of shares in the Company (“equity-settled transactions”).

The expense recognised for share-based payments in respect of employee services received during the year ended 31 December 2011 is £nil forboth the Group and the Company (2010: credit £242,000 for the Group and credit £95,000 for the Company).

2011 long-term incentive plan (2011 LTIP)The 2011 LTIP was approved by shareholders at the AGM on 13 April 2011.

In any financial year, an employee may be granted Approved Share Options and Nil-cost Options over shares in Archant Limited, the final vestingof which is subject to continued employment within the Group and satisfaction of the performance conditions.

For the options awarded in 2011, the proportion that vests will be determined by the Group’s adjusted earnings per share, aggregated over athree year period, measured against targets set at the beginning of the plan cycle.

The Approved Share Options and Nil-cost Options can be exercised between the third and tenth anniversary of grant. The RemunerationCommittee may award a participant a conditional discretionary Bonus Award, payable in cash, whose maximum gross amount is equivalent to thevalue of the Approved Share Options subject to the Bonus Award on the Grant Date.

Share options issued under the 2011 LTIP Number of shares Weighted average exercise price

Options granted during the year 166,000 4.00Lapsed during the year (7,000) 4.00

Outstanding at 31 December 2011 159,000 4.00




Share-based payments (continued)

2006 long-term incentive plan (2006 LTIP)The 2006 LTIP was approved by shareholders at the AGM on 20 April 2006. No awards can be made under the 2006 LTIP since the approvalof the 2011 LTIP on 13 April 2011.

In any financial year, an employee may be granted an award over shares, the final vesting of which is subject to continued employment within theGroup and satisfaction of the performance conditions.

For awards made under the 2006 LTIP, the vesting of shares is determined by the Group’s adjusted earnings per share, aggregated over a threeyear period, measured against targets set at the beginning of the plan cycle.

Share incentive plan The Group has an HMRC approved Share Incentive Plan (SIP), the duration of which was extended by five years at the 2011 AGM. Eligibleemployees may be invited from time to time to purchase shares (‘Partnership Shares’) in the Company, and may be awarded further shares, eitherconditional on the purchase of Partnership Shares (‘Matching Shares’) and/or unconditionally (‘Free Shares’). All SIP shares are held by the SIPTrustee on behalf of the participating employees.

The Company funds the SIP Trustee to purchase Matching Shares and Free Shares on behalf of participants in accordance with the rules ofthe SIP (the Rules). The shares so acquired are valued by reference to the price at which shares in the Company have most recently tradedthrough the matched bargain facility. The value of Matching and Free Shares awarded is recognised in the profit and loss account in theyear that the award is made. The SIP Trustee also acquires, without cost, shares as a result of their forfeiture by SIP participants in accordance with the Rules.

5. Staff costs (continued)

6. Income from investments

2011 2010£000 £000

Interest and dividends received:Listed investments 1 1Other interest 24 3

25 4

7. Interest payable

2011 2010£000 £000

Bank overdrafts and loans 1,266 1,404Amortisation of loan issue costs 374 409Other interest 8 --

1,648 1,813



(b) Factors affecting tax chargeThe tax assessed on the profit from ordinary activities for the year is lower (2010: lower) than the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of26.5% (2010: 28.0%). The differences are reconciled below:

2011 2010Note £000 £000

Profit from ordinary activities before tax 1,021 5,726

Profit from ordinary activities multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax in the UK 271 1,603Expenses not deductible for tax purposes 619 407Ineligible amortisation of goodwill and intangible assets 956 1,003Ineligible impairment of intangible assets -- 140Accelerated capital allowances (445) (730)Other timing differences (322) (329)Utilisation of tax losses (2,558) --Tax overprovided in previous years (70) (454)Exceptional tax overprovided in previous years -- (1,883)

Total current tax 8(a) (1,549) (243)


8. Tax on profit from ordinary activities

(a) Tax on profit from ordinary activities:The taxation charge is made up as follows:

2011 2010Note £000 £000

Current tax:UK corporation tax (1,479) (2,094)Tax overprovided in prior years (70) (454)Exceptional tax overprovided in prior years --- (1,883)

Current tax on profit from ordinary activities 8(b) (1,549) (243)

Deferred tax:Origination and reversal of timing differences 3,499) 407)Origination and reversal of pension scheme timing differences 354) 250)Adjustments in respect of prior years (207) 638)Adjustment arising from change in rate of corporation tax 452) 219)

Total deferred tax 4,098) 1,514)

Tax on profit from ordinary activities 2,549) 1,271)




(d) Deferred taxation assetThe deferred taxation included in the balance sheet is as follows:

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Notes £000 £000 £000 £000

Included in debtors 16 2,156 5,900 7 3Included in defined benefit pension liability 32 7,568 4,259 -- --

9,724 10,159 7 3

The movements in the amounts recognised for deferred tax are as follows:

Group Company£000 £000

At 31 December 2010 including deferred tax on defined benefit pension liability 10,159 3Deferred tax (charge)/credit in Group/Company profit and loss account (4,098) 4Amounts credited to Group statement of total recognised gains and losses 3,663 --

At 31 December 2011 including deferred tax on defined benefit pension liability 9,724 7

8. Tax on profit from ordinary activities (continued)

(c) Factors that may affect future tax chargesThe Finance Act 2011 enacted on 19 July 2011 reduced the main rate of UK Corporation Tax to 26% from 1 April 2011 and to 25%from 1 April 2012. Deferred tax has been restated accordingly at 25% in these financial statements.

The UK government has proposed reducing the UK corporation tax rate by a further 1% per annum to 23% from 1 April 2014. Thesechanges had not been substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and consequently their effects are not included in these financialstatements. The effect of these announced reductions would be to reduce the deferred tax asset by £778,000.

The Finance Act 2011 also enacted a reduction from 1 April 2012 in the rate of capital allowances applicable to plant and machineryand to integral features from 20% to 18% and from 10% to 8% respectively.

The above changes to the rates of corporation tax and capital allowances will impact the amount of future cash tax payments to be madeby the Group.

No provision has been made for deferred taxation where potentially taxable gains have been rolled over into replacement assets. Suchgains would become taxable only if the assets were sold without it being possible to claim rollover relief. The amount not provided is£361,000 (2010: £390,000). It is not envisaged that any tax will become payable in this respect in the foreseeable future.

The Group has tax losses arising in the UK of approximately £21,000,000 (2010: £nil) that are available indefinitely for offset againstfuture taxable profits of the company in which the losses arose. Deferred tax assets have been recognised in respect of these losses as onthe basis of all available evidence it is regarded as more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable profits against which these lossescan be utilised.

In addition, the Group has further tax losses arising in the UK of approximately £8,900,000 (2010: £7,900,000) that are availableindefinitely for offset against future taxable profits of those newspapers and magazine portfolios in which the losses arose. Deferred taxassets have not been recognised in respect of these losses as they may not be used to offset taxable profits elsewhere in the Group, andthey have arisen in newspaper and magazine portfolios that continue to incur losses.

The market value of the Group’s listed investments and the directors’ valuation of the Group’s unlisted investments are in excess of their bookvalues as disclosed in Note 14. If they were sold at those values there would be a liability to tax of a maximum of £269,000 (2010:£260,000) on the capital gain arising from the sale.




8. Tax on profit from ordinary activities (continued)

(d) Deferred taxation asset (continued)Deferred taxation recognised in the financial statements and the amounts not provided are as follows:

Group CompanyRecognised Not provided Recognised Not provided

2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Depreciation in (arrears) /

advance of capital allowances (3,184) 5,675 -- -- 2 2 -- --Capital gains rolled over, less

capital losses carried forward --) -- (285) (308) -- -- --Losses carried forward 5,246) -- 2,221 2,120 -- -- -- --Pension costs 7,568) 4,259 -- -- -- -- --Other timing differences 94) 225 -- -- 5 1 -- --

9,724) 10,159 1,936) 1,812 7 3 -- --

9. (Loss)/profit attributable to members of the parent company

The loss dealt with in the financial statements of the Company was £4,797,000 (2010: profit £1,116,000).

10. Dividends

2011 2010£000 £000

Declared and paid during the year:

Equity dividends on ordinary shares:Final dividend for 2010: 13.7p (2010 first interim dividend: 13.7p) 1,902 1,886Interim dividend for 2011: 6.4p (2010 second interim dividend: 6.4p) 877 880

2,779 2,766

Proposed for approval at the Annual General Meeting and not recognised as a liability at 31 December:

Equity dividends on ordinary shares:Final dividend for 2011: 13.7p (2010: 13.7p) 1,877 1,891

A first interim dividend for 2010 of 13.7p per share was paid on 18 March 2010 in place of a final dividend for 2009.

There are no dividends accrued as liabilities at either year end.

Under the rules of the 2006 LTIP no dividend shall be payable on restricted shares held by participants. The trustees of the Archant EmployeeBenefit Trust have given a continuing waiver on the dividends payable on shares that they hold in the Company. From 16 September 2011, theSIP Trustee has also given a continuing waiver on the dividends payable on unallocated shares held by the SIP Trust.




11. (Loss)/earnings per ordinary share

The calculation of basic (loss)/earnings per ordinary share is based on losses of £1,462,000 (2010: profits £4,455,000) and on 13,798,000(2010: 13,916,000) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year, excluding the shares held by theArchant Employee Benefit Trust, the unallocated shares held by the SIP Trust and the restricted shares held by the 2006 LTIP.

The diluted (loss)/earnings per share is based on losses for the year of £1,462,000 (2010: profits £4,455,000) as above, and on13,798,000 (2010: 14,306,000) ordinary shares, calculated as follows:

2011 2010’000 ’000

Basic weighted average number of shares 13,798 13,916Dilutive potential ordinary shares:Restricted shares held by the 2006 LTIP -- 390

13,798 14,306

No restricted shares held by the 2006 LTIP or share options granted under the 2011 LTIP have been included as dilutive potential ordinary sharesin 2011 as they do not increase loss per share and so are not dilutive.

As in previous years, adjusted earnings per share has also been disclosed as the directors consider that this alternative measure gives a morecomparable indication of the Group’s underlying trading performance.

The adjusted earnings per share has been calculated by using the profits/(losses) attributable to shareholders, adjusted as follows:

2011 2011 2010 2010Pence Pence

£000 per share £000 per share

(Loss)/profit attributable to shareholders/(loss)/earnings per share (1,462) (10.6) 4,455 32.0Exceptional items 3,095 22.4 1,463 10.5Amortisation of goodwill and other intangible assets 4,616 33.4 4,617 33.2Impairment of intangible assets -- -- 500 3.6Tax impact of exceptional items (750) (5.4) (466) (3.4)Exceptional corporation tax credit for prior years -- -- (1,883) (13.5)Deferred tax adjustment arising on change in rate of corporation tax 452 3.3 219 1.6

Adjusted earnings per share 5,951 43.1 8,905 64.0




12. Intangible fixed assets

Films Newspaper titles Magazine titles Goodwill TotalGroup £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost:At 31 December 2010 4,100 112,489 59,478 6,634 182,701Acquisition of businesses - - 37 115 152

At 31 December 2011 4,100 112,489 59,515 6,749 182,853

Amortisation:At 31 December 2010 2,487 89,093 27,989 4,073 123,642Provided during the year - 1,494 2,714 408 4,616

At 31 December 2011 2,487 90,587 30,703 4,481 128,258

Net book value:At 31 December 2011 1,613 21,902 28,812 2,268 54,595

At 31 December 2010 1,613 23,396 31,489 2,561 59,059

Goodwill arising on the acquisition of subsidiary undertakings is being amortised evenly over the directors’ estimate of its useful economic life,subject to a maximum of 20 years.

Newspaper titles are amortised evenly over the directors’ estimates of their useful economic lives, subject to a maximum of 20 years.

Magazine titles are amortised evenly over the directors’ estimates of their useful economic lives, subject to a maximum of 20 years.

The Group owns the copyright and physical material of two films. Films are carried at estimated net realisable value, calculated as the minimumvalue of future royalties receivable. The carrying value is matched by interest free loans, secured on the films and repayable out of film receipts upto 14 December 2013.

The carrying values of all intangible assets are reviewed for impairment at the end of the first full year following acquisition and in other periods ifevents or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying values may not be recoverable.

Impairment of intangible fixed assetsNewspaper titles, magazine titles and goodwill are allocated, at acquisition, to the Income Generating Units (IGUs) that are expected to benefit fromthat business combination. The recoverable amounts of the IGUs are determined from value in use calculations. The key assumptions for the value inuse calculations are those regarding the growth rates, expected changes to revenues and direct costs during the period, and the discount ratesapplied. These assumptions have been reviewed during the year in light of the current economic environment. The value in use calculation uses post-tax cash flow projections based on the financial budgets approved by the Board for 2012. The growth rates for cash flows beyond 2012 assumean annual RPI increase only and no underlying growth. Changes in revenues and direct costs are based on past practices and expectations ofmarket development. Management estimates discount rates using post-tax rates that reflect current market assessments of the time value of money andthe risks specific to the IGUs. The cost of capital and therefore the discount rate applied to future cash flows has been reduced from 12.0% to 11.7%.

The Group prepares discounted cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by management for the next year andextrapolates cash flows for 20 years from the date of testing based on an estimated annual growth rate of 2.5%. A discounted residual value of onetimes the final year’s cash flow is included in the forecast. The present value of the cash flows is then compared to the carrying value of the asset.

The impairment review at 31 December 2011 indicated that no impairment charge was required.

The Group has conducted a sensitivity analysis on the impairment test of each IGU’s carrying value and has determined that no material impairmentwould result from a decrease in the long-term growth rate of 0.5% or an increase in the discount rate of 0.25%.




13. Tangible fixed assets

Freehold land Leasehold Plant, equipment Totaland buildings buildings and vehicles

Group £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost or valuation:At 31 December 2010 16,426 1,037 52,764 70,227Additions -- 5 1,871 1,876Disposals -- (7) (237) (244)

At 31 December 2011 16,426 1,035 54,398 71,859

Depreciation:At 31 December 2010 3,643 657 30,725 35,025Charge for year 307 137 4,259 4,703Disposals -- (5) (182) (187)

At 31 December 2011 3,950 789 34,802 39,541

Net book value:At 31 December 2011 12,476 246 19,596 32,318

At 31 December 2010 12,783 380 22,039 35,202

Included in freehold land and buildings is land valued at £3,408,000 (2010: £3,408,000), which is not depreciated.

Following the closure of the Ipswich Print Centre in early 2009, the Group entered into a joint venture arrangement in December 2010 to developthe freehold property at Lower Brook Street, Ipswich. The Group is progressing towards submitting an application for outline planning permission,but development will only proceed when there is a forward sale agreement.

Plant, equipment Totaland vehicles

Company £000 £000

Cost: At 31 December 2010 and 2011 10 10

Depreciation:At 31 December 2010 and 2011 10 10

Net book value:At 31 December 2011 -- --

At 31 December 2010 -- --




13. Tangible fixed assets (continued)

The cost or valuation of land and buildings at 31 December 2011 comprises:

Freehold LeaseholdLong Short

Group £000 £000 £000

At valuation – 1996 12,388 126 --At cost 4,038 -- 909

16,426 126 909

After taking appropriate professional advice from Ernest Webster FRICS, chartered surveyor, the directors revalued the Group’s freehold and longleasehold properties at 31 December 1996. Certain Group properties identified as potential disposals were valued at open market value. Theremaining Group properties were valued at open market value for existing use. Subsequent additions are shown at cost.

The historical cost of freehold and leasehold land and buildings is as follows:

Freehold Leasehold2011 2010 2011 2010

Group £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost 15,761 15,761 1,043 1,044

Aggregate depreciation 4,831 4,581 741 659

Depreciation on freehold and leasehold properties for the year has been based on the 1996 revalued amounts. Based on cost the consolidatedcharge would have been lower by £8,000 (2010: £8,000).



Subsidiary Listed Unlisted Totalundertakings

Company £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost:At 31 December 2010 138,721 8 60 138,789Acquisitions 38,600 -- -- 38,600

At 31 December 2011 177,321 8 60 177,389

Provisions:At 31 December 2010 -- -- 25 25Impairment 10,501 -- -- 10,501

At 31 December 2011 10,501 -- 25 10,526

Net book value:At 31 December 2011 166,820 8 35 166,863

At 31 December 2010 138,721 8 35 138,764

As a result of the Group legal restructuring carried out during the year, the Company increased its investment in Archant Holdings Limited by£38,600,000. Certain other subsidiaries also undertook a reduction in capital and subsequent distribution of the profits created, necessitating animpairment charge against the carrying values of those investments.

The market value of the listed investments at 31 December 2011 was £37,000 (2010: £53,000) for both the Group and the Company.Unlisted investments, which consist entirely of equity share capital, are valued by the directors at £1,082,000 (2010: £952,000) for the Groupand the Company.

In arriving at market or directors’ valuations, no provision has been made for taxation which would be chargeable, amounting to a maximum of£269,000 (2010: £260,000), in the event of disposals at these values.


14. Investments

Listed Unlisted TotalGroup £000 £000 £000

Cost:At 31 December 2010 and 2011 8 60 68

Provisions:At 31 December 2010 and 2011 -- 25 25

Net book value:At 31 December 2011 8 35 43

At 31 December 2010 8 35 43


Subsidiary undertakings Activity†

Archant BHGC Limited Holding company†

Archant Community Media Holdings Limited (formerly Archant Print Limited) * Holding company (formerly printing of newspapers)†

Archant Community Media Limited (formerly Archant Regional Limited) * Newspaper and magazine publishing, printing and contract publishing†

KOS Media (Publishing) Limited * Dormant†

Archant Life Limited * Magazine publishing†

Archant Specialist Limited * Magazine publishing†

Archant Dialogue Limited * Contract publishing†

The British Connection, Inc* Magazine distribution†

East Anglian Daily Times Company Limited* Plant and machinery leasing†

Archant Properties Limited * Property†

Archant Holdings Limited Holding company†

Archant Lifestyle Limited * Holding company†

Local Vouchers Limited* Discount vouchers†

PlanningFinder Limited* Online planning searches†



†The trades of these subsidiaries were transferred to Archant Community Media Limited following the Group legal restructuring completed on 16 November 2011. These subsidiary companies are now dormant.

The Group’s acquisitions during the year were:

Date of acquisition Company or asset acquired

19 January 2011 Today’s Pilot1 April 2011 PlanningFinder Limited

The aggregate consideration for these acquisitions was £77,000 which was satisfied in cash.

Local Vouchers Limited was acquired on 21 December 2010. For the year ended 31 December 2011, Local Vouchers Limited achieved turnoverand operating loss of £217,000 and £183,000 respectively. Today’s Pilot was merged with Pilot magazine, an existing title, and PlanningFinderLimited has not traded since acquisition while development plans have been formulated.

The Group have options to acquire the shares in Local Vouchers Limited and PlanningFinder Limited not already owned by the Group. The earliestdate these options in respect of shares in Local Vouchers Limited and PlanningFinder Limited can be exercised is in November 2012 and in April 2014 respectively.

14. Investments (continued)

The Company’s principal trading subsidiary undertakings, all of which are unlisted companies, are set out below. Archant BHGC Limited is acompany limited by guarantee given by Archant Holdings Limited. The Group owns 66.6% of PlanningFinder Limited. The Group also owns 50%of the ordinary share capital of Local Vouchers Limited, but exercises dominant influence over the management of the company, and accordinglyaccounts for this investment as a subsidiary undertaking. All other subsidiary undertakings are wholly owned. With the exception of The BritishConnection, Inc., which is incorporated in the United States of America, all subsidiary undertakings are incorporated in England.

Those companies in which the equity is held by a subsidiary undertaking are marked with an asterisk.




15. Stocks

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Raw materials 1,341 1,368 -- --Finished goods and goods for resale 18 23 -- --

1,359 1,391 -- --

16. Debtors

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Note £000 £000 £000 £000

Due within one year:Trade debtors 14,934 15,786 -- --Amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings -- -- -- 942Other debtors 1,145 1,342 -- --Prepayments and accrued income 3,133 2,458 421 7Corporation tax recoverable -- -- 785 1,042

19,212 19,586 1,206 1,991

Due after more than one year:Amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings -- -- 84,279 211,062Deferred tax asset 8(d) 2,156 5,900 7 3

2,156 5,900 84,286 211,065

Total debtors 21,368 25,486 85,492 213,056




17. Cash at bank and in hand

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Cash at bank and in hand 4,194 1,779 9 12

18. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Note £000 £000 £000 £000

Bank loans and overdrafts 20 1,957 1,786 5,024 3,210Trade creditors 5,557 3,872 -- --Amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings -- -- 128 --Corporation tax 4,544 6,431 -- --Tax and social security 2,923 2,656 -- --Other creditors 1,849 1,454 2 5Accruals and deferred income 7,278 7,021 1,686 1,079Subscriptions in advance 3,707 3,857 -- --

27,815 27,077 6,840 4,294

19. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010

Note £000 £000 £000 £000

Bank loans and facilities 20 19,624 23,250 19,624 23,250Loans – film finance 1,613 1,613 -- --Amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings -- -- 193,696 283,990

21,237 24,863 213,320 307,240

The loans relating to film finance are interest free and repayable out of film receipts prior to 14 December 2013. They are secured by charges onthe copyright and physical material relating to two films owned by the Group and shown under that heading in intangible fixed assets.

As disclosed in Note 20, the bank loans and facilities mature between one and two years.

The amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings mature between two and five years.




20. Bank loans, overdrafts and facilities

The bank loans, overdrafts and facilities comprise:

Amounts falling due within one year

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Bank overdrafts -- -- 3,067 1,424Employee Benefit Trust overdraft 1,957 1,786 1,957 1,786

1,957 1,786 5,024 3,210

Amounts falling due after more than one year

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Term revolving advances facility 20,000 24,000 20,000 24,000Arrangement fees (376) (750) (376) (750)

19,624 23,250 19,624 23,250

The Employee Benefit Trust has a bank overdraft facility of £2,000,000 and any overdraft under this facility is guaranteed by the Company. TheGroup has a bank overdraft facility of £5,000,000 and any overdrafts under this facility are secured by a floating charge over the undertaking,property, assets and rights of certain companies in the Group, together with cross guarantees from certain companies in the Group.

The Company has a term revolving advances facility expiring in April 2013 for a maximum amount of £42,000,000. The maximum amount onthis facility was reduced to £39,000,000 on 1 January 2012, and will be further reduced to £36,000,000 on 1 January 2013. The undrawncommitted facilities available at 31 December 2011, in respect of which all conditions precedent had been met at that date, were £27,000,000(2010: £26,000,000). Provided that the Company continues to comply with the conditions of the facility, the Company has the right to drawdown sums up to the amount of the facility for periods ending on or before the expiry date.

The bank loans and overdrafts are shown net of bank facility arrangement fees of £376,000 (2010: £750,000).

Sums drawn down under the revolving advances facility are secured by a floating charge over the undertaking, property, assets and rights ofcertain companies in the Group, together with cross guarantees from certain companies in the Group.




21. Provisions for liabilities

The movements in provisions are as follows:

Dilapidations Long-Term Other Totaland onerous Incentive Plan provisions

leases Group £000 £000 £000 £000

At 31 December 2010 1,517 -- 926 2,443Arising during the year 225 -- 898 1,123Released (105) -- (23) (128)Utilised (505) -- (977) (1,482)

At 31 December 2011 1,132 -- 824 1,956

Dilapidations Long-Term Other Totaland onerous Incentive Plan provisions

leasesCompany £000 £000 £000 £000

At 31 December 2010 and 2011 -- -- 500 500

Provisions for dilapidations are made in accordance with independent professional advice. If the leases run to expiry, without earlier break clausesbeing exercised, or without the leases being renewed for a further term, these obligations will mostly be settled within five years, with the remainingliabilities due in various years up to 2036.

Provisions for onerous leases are made where the properties concerned are vacant or sub-let at less than full rental, and are based on assumptionsabout the Group’s ability to sub-let the properties through to lease expiry, or to exit the leases early. The timing of the settlement of these obligationsis dependent on the termination of the various leases. If the leases run to expiry, or the exercise of earlier break clauses, these obligations will besettled within four years.

The Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) provision is calculated to provide for the cost of share awards over each three-year LTIP plan cycle. Theprovision is measured by reference to the number of years that have elapsed in each plan cycle and the most recent view of performance againstthe growth targets set at the commencement of each plan cycle. It is expected that any liabilities arising under the 2006 LTIP would be settledwithin three years of the balance sheet date and that any liabilities arising under the 2011 LTIP would be settled more than three years but less than ten years after the balance sheet date.

Other provisions at 31 December 2011 comprise the provision for amounts potentially payable under a claim against the Company from theliquidator of The Dublin Daily News Limited (DDN) of £500,000 (as disclosed in Note 31), and redundancy costs of £324,000. It is expectedthat the claim from the liquidator of DDN (which is being vigorously defended) will be settled within two years, and the provision for redundancycosts will be settled within one year.

22. Called-up share capital

Allotted, called-up and fully paid2011 2010£000 £000

Ordinary shares of 20p each14,361,822 issued (2010 – 14,361,822 issued) 2,872 2,872




23. Movements on reserves

Group Company£000 £000

Share premiumAt 31 December 2010 and 2011 2,616 2,616

Revaluation reserveAt 31 December 2010 293 --Transfer to profit and loss account (8) --

At 31 December 2011 285 --

Other reserves(a) Special reserveAt 31 December 2010 and 2011 2,350 --

(b) Capital reserveAt 31 December 2010 and 2011 5,369 --

(c) Own shares heldAt 31 December 2010 (4,547) (4,547)Purchase of own shares (518) (518)

At 31 December 2011 (5,065) (5,065)

Total other reservesAt 31 December 2011 2,654 (5,065)

At 31 December 2010 3,172 (4,547)

Profit and loss accountAt 31 December 2010 48,107 38,857(Loss) from ordinary activities after taxation and minority interests (1,462) (4,797)Equity dividends paid (2,779) (2,779)Other net recognised gains and losses in the year:

Net movement in pension scheme deficit (12,127) --Transfer from revaluation reserve 8 --

At 31 December 2011 31,747 31,281

Total reservesAt 31 December 2011 37,302 28,832

At 31 December 2010 54,188 36,926




23. Movements on reserves (continued)

The special reserve was created in 2001 on the cancellation of the preference shares in Eastern Counties Newspapers Group Limited (“ECNG”)(now Archant Community Media Limited) to protect the creditors of ECNG at the date of cancellation. The special reserve can be released todistributable reserves when all of the creditors of ECNG at the date of cancellation have been satisfied.

The capital reserve comprises the balance of the share premium account in the former holding company on 1 March 2002.

Own shares held comprise shares held by the trustees of the Employee Benefit Trust (“EBT”), the Long-Term Incentive Plan Trust and the ShareIncentive Plan Trust other than shares being held as a bare trustee. Own shares held comprised 663,594 shares with a nominal value of 20peach, acquired at an average cost of £7.63 each (2010: 540,692 shares at £8.41). Purchases of shares in the Company by the EBT havebeen funded by a bank overdraft guaranteed by the Company and by a loan from the Company, and purchases by the LTIP and SIP have beenfunded by cash contributions from the Company and its subsidiaries. The trusts provide sources of shares for use in connection with the ArchantShare Incentive Plan and the Archant 2006 Long-Term Incentive Plan.

All expenses incurred by the trusts are settled directly by the Company, and charged in the financial statements as incurred.

The cumulative amount of goodwill written off to the profit and loss account at 31 December 2011 in the consolidated financial statements is£8,032,000 (2010: £8,032,000).

24. Financial risk management

The Group currently derives its funding from share capital, retained profits and bank borrowing.

The Group’s objectives when managing capital are to safeguard the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. To maintain or adjust thecapital structure, the Group may adjust the dividends paid to shareholders, return capital to shareholders or issue new shares.

The Board retains responsibility for the agreement of the terms of any new or renewed borrowing facilities. Cash is managed centrally, and theGroup’s treasury objective is to minimise borrowing costs and maximise returns on funds, subject to short-term liquidity requirements.

Financial risk factorsThe Group’s principal financial risks are liquidity risk and interest rate risk. The Group has limited exposure to foreign exchange risk, credit risk andprice risk. The Group’s overall risk strategy seeks to minimise potential adverse effects on the Group’s performance.

Liquidity riskLiquidity risk results from having insufficient financial resources to meet day-to-day fluctuations in working capital and cash flow. Ultimateresponsibility for liquidity risk management rests with the Board. The Group manages liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves, by regularlymonitoring forecast and actual cash flows and by maintaining a mixture of long-term and short-term committed facilities that are designed to ensurethe Group has sufficient available funds for operations and planned expansions. At 31 December 2011, the Group had facilities availabletotalling £47m comprising the term facility in the amount of £42m and an overdraft facility of £5m. In addition, the EBT has an overdraft facility of£2m. The amount available under the term facility was reduced to £39m on 1 January 2012. The overdraft facilities of the Group and the EBTare repayable on demand, and the term facility expires in April 2013. £27m of these facilities remained undrawn at the year end, and the Groupconsiders that it should be able to operate within the level of its current facilities.

Interest rate riskThe Group’s exposure to the risk of changes in market interest rates relates primarily to the Group’s long-term debt obligations with floating interestrates which are managed centrally.

The Group has adopted a policy to manage its interest cost using a mix of fixed and variable rate debts. To keep at least 50% of its borrowings at fixed rates of interest, in January 2010 the Group entered into interest rate swaps on £15m of the Group’s debt obligations, which expired on 15 December 2011, to limit the Group’s exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. The Group agreed to exchange, at specified intervals, thedifference between fixed and variable rate interest amounts calculated by reference to an agreed-upon notional principal amount. Since 15 December 2011 all of the Group’s long-term debt obligations carry floating interest rates.




24. Financial risk management (continued)

The Group’s bank borrowing facilities contain financial covenants based on cash flow cover, interest cover and the ratio of debt to adjusted EBITDA.Throughout the year the Group maintained comfortable headroom against these covenants and is expected to do so into the foreseeable future.

Foreign exchange riskThe Group has a subsidiary undertaking in the United States of America, which is limited in scale and largely self-financing. Therefore the Grouphas no foreign currency borrowings to hedge the foreign currency investment. The Group has limited exposure to foreign exchange risks withrespect to transactions in US dollars and the Euro. Due to the low exposure to currency risk, the Group does not use forward exchange contracts.

Credit riskThe Group has no significant concentrations of credit risk. The Group has implemented policies that require, where appropriate, credit checks onpotential customers before sales commence.

Price risk The Group has an agreement to source all newsprint from a single major supplier and negotiates prices for newsprint at least twelve months inadvance.

25. Financial instruments

In January 2010, the Group entered into interest rate swaps on £15m of the Group’s debt obligations, which expired on 15 December 2011, tolimit the Group’s exposure to fluctuations in interest rates.

26. Reconciliation of operating profit to operating cash flows

2011 2010£000 £000

Operating profit 2,704 8,172Depreciation of tangible fixed assets 4,703 4,720Amortisation of intangible fixed assets 4,616 4,617Impairment of intangible fixed assets -.. 500Loss on disposals of tangible fixed assets 36 28Profit on disposal of fixed asset investments (66) --Profit and loss credit for share-based payment -. (242)Decrease/(increase) in stocks 32 (44)Decrease/(increase) in debtors 374 (490)Increase/(decrease) in creditors 2,532 (1,788)Movements in provisions 995 620Payment against provisions (1,595) (1,164)Adjustment for FRS 17 pension funding (1,236) (1,204)

Cash flow from operating activities 13,095 13,725




27. Analysis of cash flows for headings netted in the cash flow statement

2011 2010Note £000 £000

Returns on investments and servicing of financeInterest received 24 3Dividends received 1 1Interest paid (1,380) (1,233)

(1,355) (1,229)

Capital expenditure and financial investmentPurchase of tangible fixed assets (1,876) (2,439)Sale of tangible fixed assets 21 10Proceeds on sale of fixed asset investments 66 --

(1,789) (2,429)

Acquisitions and disposalsAcquisitions of businesses 14 (77) (582)Bank and cash balances acquired with businesses 5 46

(72) (536)

FinancingIssue of ordinary share capital - 327Repayment of loan under bank revolving credit facility (4,000) (8,000)Issue costs of new banking facilities - (61)Capital element of finance lease rental payments - (8)Purchase of own shares (518) (665)

(4,518) (8,407)

28. Analysis of net debt

At 1 Cash flow Other At 31January non-cash December

2011 changes 2011£000 £000 £000 £000

Cash at bank and in hand 1,779 2,415 -- 4,194Archant EBT bank balances (1,786) (171) -- (1,957)

Bank and cash balances (7) 2,244 -- 2,237Bank loans and overdrafts (24,000) 4,000 -- (20,000)Loan issue costs 750 -- (374) 376

Total (23,257) 6,244 (374) (17,387)



29. Capital commitments

Approved future capital expenditure at 31 December for which no provision has been made in these financial statements amounted to:

Group Company2011 2010 2011 2010£000 £000 £000 £000

Contracted for but not provided -- 9 -- --

30. Commitments under operating leases

At 31 December annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases were as follows:

Land and buildings Plant, equipment and vehicles2011 2010 2011 2010

Group £000 £000 £000 £000

Operating leases which expire:Within one year 386 383 90 391Within two to five years 854 1,198 1,629 980Over five years 206 102 -- --

1,446 1,683 1,719 1,371

31. Contingent liabilities

In July 2003 The Dublin Daily News Limited (“DDN”), a newspaper publishing company based in Dublin in which the Group had taken a 20%holding, ceased trading.

The Company received a statement of claim dated 8 February 2008 from the liquidator of DDN seeking judgement in the sum of approximately500,000 euros plus costs in relation to non-cash consideration for the issue to the Company of shares in DDN. The Company continues tovigorously defend the claim, but after taking legal advice has considered it prudent to make provision for what it believes to be a fair andreasonable settlement.





32. Pension schemes

The principal pension scheme operated by the Group is the Archant Pension & Life Assurance Scheme (“the PLAS”), a hybrid scheme with adefined benefit section (“the PLAS DBS”) which includes a senior management section (“the PLAS SMS”) and a defined contribution section (“thePLAS DCS”).

The Group also pays ex gratia pensions on an unfunded basis to certain former employees and their dependents and, accordingly, provides forthis liability in the financial statements. The provisions for unfunded pension liabilities have been made in accordance with actuarial advice.

From 1 May 2009 the Group introduced a salary sacrifice arrangement which had the effect of converting both the PLAS DBS and PLAS DCS intoa non-contributory scheme with the employee pension contributions being replaced by additional employer contributions, known as SMART Pensioncontributions, and there is an equivalent reduction in the member’s contractual pay.

Members of the Scheme at 1 May 2009 were automatically enrolled into the SMART Pension arrangement, unless they chose to opt out.

Defined contribution sectionThe Group provides retirement benefits to approximately 40% of current employees through the defined contribution scheme. For the PLAS DCS thepension cost represents contributions payable by the Group to this section. Prior to the introduction of the SMART pensions arrangement members’contributions were permitted in the range of 2% - 7% of pensionable earnings. The Group matches members’ SMART contributions, or members’contributions for those members who opted out of SMART pensions, on a 1:1 basis, except in the case of certain senior managers, where theemployer’s contribution is at enhanced multiples.

Additionally, the Group made payments to the PLAS DCS equal to 1.4% (2010: 1.4%) of pensionable earnings in respect of insured deathbenefits, expenses and benefit guarantees. From 1 January 2012, the rate for these additional payments increased to 1.5%.

2011 2010Contributions paid in the year £000 £000

Charged in the profit and loss account 2,643 2,462December 2011 contributions paid in January 2012 (229) --December 2010 contributions paid in January 2011 213 (213)December 2009 contributions paid in January 2010 --. 207

Contributions paid in the year 2,627 2,456

These contributions include SMART Pension contributions from 1 May 2009.




32. Pension schemes (continued)

Defined benefit sectionThe pension scheme assets are held in a separate trustee-administered fund to meet long-term pension liabilities to past and present employees. Thedirectors of the Trustee Company (the “Trustee Directors”) of the fund are required to act in the best interest of the fund’s beneficiaries. The manner ofappointment of the Trustee Directors to the Trustee Company is determined by the scheme’s trust documentation. The Group has a policy that atleast one-third of all Trustee Directors should be nominated by members of the fund, including at least one member by current pensioners.

The Group provides retirement benefits to some of its former and approximately 10% of current employees through a defined benefit scheme. Thelevel of retirement benefit is based principally on pensionable salary earned in the last three years of employment, subject to the 2009 Cap, asenhanced by additional years of service.

The liabilities of the defined benefit scheme are measured by discounting the best estimate of future cash flows to be paid out by the scheme usingthe projected unit method. This amount is reflected in the deficit in the balance sheet. The projected unit method is an accrued benefits valuationmethod in which the scheme liabilities make allowance for projected earnings. The accumulated benefit obligation is an actuarial measure of thepresent value of benefits for service already rendered but differs from the projected unit method in that it includes no assumption for future salaryincreases. At the balance sheet date the accumulated benefit obligation was £140.2m (2010: £131.2m).

An alternative method of valuation to the projected unit method is a solvency basis, often estimated using the cost of buying out benefits at thebalance sheet date with a suitable insurer. This amount represents the amount that would be required to settle the scheme liabilities at the balancesheet date rather than the Group continuing to fund the on-going liabilities of the scheme. The Group estimates the amount required to settle thescheme’s liabilities at the balance sheet date is £104m (2010: £90m) in excess of the assets held by the scheme.

Reduction in defined benefit pension liabilitiesDuring 2009 the Company undertook a review of its defined benefit pension provision. As a result of this review, changes were made to thedefinition of Final Pensionable Salary such that Pensionable Earnings used to calculate Final Salary pension benefits became capped at theemployees’ Pensionable Earnings in the twelve months prior to 1 December 2009. Any pension benefits on Pensionable Earnings above thecapped level of Pensionable Earnings are provided through a defined contribution arrangement. Members of the defined benefit section continueto accrue additional pensionable years of service at their current accrual rate for the purpose of calculating pension benefit.

The defined contribution element constitutes a “top-up fund” within the defined benefit section. Members are able to pay contributions throughSMART into the fund at a rate between 2% and 7% of their Pensionable Earnings in excess of the 1 December 2009 Cap and the Companycontributes an equal amount, except in the case of certain senior managers where the employer’s contribution is at enhanced multiples.





Defined benefit section (continued)The most recently completed triennial actuarial valuation was carried out as at 1 January 2011 by an independent actuary for the TrusteeCompany of the scheme. The financial assumptions adopted that have the most significant effect on the valuation were:

Annual rate of increase in:

Prices 3.3%Salaries 0.0%Pensions in payment 3.2%Investment return – Pre-retirement 6.2%

– Post-retirement 5.0%

At the time of the actuarial valuation the assets of the scheme, which are held separately from those of the Group, were:

Market value of the scheme’s assets £147.1mPresent value of the scheme’s liabilities £160.4mActuarial deficit £13.3mActuarial value as a proportion of accrued benefit 91.7%

Contributions to the defined benefit section are determined with the advice of independent actuaries, using the projected unit method.

Contribution rates for final salary pensions as a percentage of pensionable earnings, which are determined on the basis of the most recent actuarial valuation, were:

PLAS DBS PLAS SMS

Member* Company Member* Company% % % %

From 1 January 2006 7.0 16.6 7.0 34.1From 1 January 2009 7.0 17.3 7.0 41.8From 1 December 2009 7.0 9.1 7.0 32.6From 1 January 2012 7.0 11.2 7.0 40.6

* SMART pensions from 1 May 2009 unless member opted out of salary sacrifice.

Until 31 December 2011, the Company contribution rates in the above table covered the administration costs of the PLAS DBS and PLAS SMS,including insurances and the Pension Protection Fund levy. From 1 January 2012, these costs are excluded from the contribution rates above, andwill be separately settled by the Company. These costs are estimated at £0.85m for 2012.

Following the actuarial valuation as at 1 January 2011, the Company has agreed to pay a shortfall recovery payment of at least £1.8m perannum for the years 2012 to 2020 inclusive. The Company paid an additional cash contribution of £1.45m into the PLAS in 2011 (2010: £1.45m).





Following the actuarial valuation as at 1 January 2011 the Group has agreed the following funding objectives with the Trustee Directors:

1. To return the on-going funding level of the scheme to 100% of the projected past service liabilities within a period of ten years from the valuationas at 1 January 2011.

2. To maintain funding at least at this level once the funding level of the scheme is 100% of the projected past service liabilities.

The Group and the Trustee Directors monitor the funding level on a quarterly basis. The next triennial valuation is due to be completed as at 1 January 2014. The deficit and regular contributions will be recalculated as part of this valuation.

The levels of contributions are based on the current service costs and the expected future cash flows of the defined benefit scheme. The Groupestimates the present value of the duration of scheme liabilities on average fall due over 18 years.

On 16 January 2009 the Company entered into a Deed of Guarantee (“the Guarantee”) with the then trustees of the Pension & Life AssuranceScheme (“the Scheme”) whereby the Company guaranteed the punctual performance of all obligations under the Scheme of the Scheme’sParticipating Employers. Demands under the Guarantee are subject to a cap equal to any defaulting Participating Employer’s share of the Scheme’sdeficit on the ongoing, scheme-specific funding basis, as calculated by the Scheme actuary. The Guarantee also indemnifies the Scheme againstany loss or liability suffered if any payment obligation under the Guarantee is, or becomes, unenforceable. The Guarantee will remain in place untilthe Scheme becomes fully funded on the scheme-specific funding basis, as advised by the Scheme actuary. The Trustee Directors took theGuarantee into consideration when setting the period of the Scheme’s deficit recovery plan, following the 1 January 2011 Actuarial Valuation, andsetting the Scheme’s investment strategy.

The benefits payable by the scheme are expected to increase steadily over the next 30 years as active and deferred members reach retirement.After that the benefits payable should drop off markedly as mortality rates increase.

In 2003 the Group decided that future increases to the discretionary element of pensions in payment (i.e. that for pre-April 1997 service otherthan, in respect of participants over state retirement age, the Guaranteed Minimum Pension element of any such pension) would be funded eitherby the Company or out of fund surpluses. The Company made no such payments during the year (2010: £nil).

Pension disclosure under FRS 17The following information shows the results of the Group’s defined benefit pension scheme in the UK.

A full actuarial valuation was carried out for the PLAS as at 1 January 2011.

The actuarial valuation has been updated to 31 December 2011 by an independent actuary. The amounts shown at 31 December weremeasured in accordance with FRS 17.

AssumptionsThe major assumptions used by the actuary in updating the valuation were:

2011 2010 2009% % %

Rate of increase in salaries 0.00 0.00 0.00Rate of increase in deferred pensions 2.30 2.85 3.45Rate of increase of pensions in payment 3.00 3.35 3.45Discount rate 4.66 5.46 5.70Inflation 3.00 3.35 3.45Expected long-term rate of return:

Equities 5.55 6.82 6.90Bonds and gilt securities 4.99 5.41 5.60Other 0.50 0.50 0.50





An investigation of the scheme’s mortality experience over the past three years was carried out as part of the actuarial valuation at 1 January 2011. The current assumed life expectations on retirement at age 65 are:

2011 2010

Retiring todayMales 22.3 22.4Females 24.2 24.9

Retiring in 20 yearsMales 24.4 25.2Females 26.5 26.8

Sensitivity analysis of the principal assumptions used to measure scheme liabilitiesThe sensitivities regarding the principal assumptions used to measure the scheme liabilities are set out below:

Assumption Change in assumption Impact on scheme liabilities

Discount rate Increase by 0.25% Decrease by 3%Rate of inflation Increase by 0.25% Increase by 2%Life expectancy Increase by 1 year Increase by 2%

Employee benefit obligationsThe amounts recognised in the Balance sheet are as follows:

2011 2010£000 £000

Present value of funded obligations 169,359 160,497Fair value of scheme assets (139,810) (145,544)

29,549 14,953Present value of unfunded obligations 728 823

Deficit 30,277 15,776Related deferred tax asset at 25% (2010: 27%) (7,568) (4,259)

Net liability 22,709 11,517

The unfunded obligations are in respect of the ex gratia pensions paid by the Group. The present value of these obligations has been calculated inaccordance with FRS 17 by an independent actuary for the years ended 31 December 2007 through to 31 December 2011. Book value wasused at 31 December 2006 and in earlier years as a reasonable approximation of present value at those dates.





The amounts recognised in the profit and loss account are as follows:

2011 2010£000 £000

Current service cost – DBS 1,297 1,368Current service cost – DCS 2,643 2,462

Recognised in arriving at operating profit 3,940 3,830

Interest on funded obligations 7,004 7,042Interest on unfunded obligations 38 45Expected return on scheme assets (6,982) (6,652)

Other finance expense 60 435

Total recognised in the profit and loss account 4,000 4,265

Actual return on scheme assets 221 14,045

Changes in the present value of the scheme obligation are as follows:

2011 2010£000 £000

Opening scheme obligation – DBS and DCS 160,497 150,506Opening scheme obligation – unfunded obligations at present value 823 902

Total opening scheme obligation 161,320 151,408Service cost – DBS 1,297 1,368Service cost – DCS 2,643 2,462Interest cost 7,042 7,086Actuarial losses – DBS and unfunded obligations 9,029 3,587Contributions by employees – DBS and DCS 59 76Change in DC fund values (1,568) 3,625Benefits paid – DBS (8,415) (6,694)Benefits paid – DCS (1,207) (1,475)Benefits paid – unfunded obligations (113) (123)

Closing scheme obligation 170,087 161,320




The analysis of the actuarial (gains) and losses in the DBS is as follows:

2011 2010£000 £000

Experience gains (2,603) --Changes in assumptions:

Demographics 667 --Discount rate 17,221 4,466Inflation (6,256) (879)

9,029 3,587

Changes in the fair value of scheme assets are as follows:

2011 2010£000 £000

Opening fair value of scheme assets 145,544 130,933Expected return 6,982 6,652Actuarial (losses)/gains (6,761) 7,393Contributions by employer – DBS 2,533 2,572Contributions by employer – DCS 2,643 2,462Contributions by employer – unfunded obligations 113 123Contributions by employees – DBS and DCS 59 76Change in DC fund values (1,568) 3,625Benefits paid – DBS (8,415) (6,694)Benefits paid – DCS (1,207) (1,475)Benefits paid – unfunded obligations (113) (123)

Closing fair value of scheme assets 139,810 145,544

The Group expects to contribute between £3,500,000 and £4,000,000 to the DBS in 2012.

At 31 December 2011 the scheme assets were invested in a diversified portfolio that consisted primarily of equity and debt securities. The fairvalue of the scheme assets as a percentage of the total scheme assets and planned allocations are set out below:

Planned 2012 2011 2010% % %

Global equities 50 50 51Absolute return funds 20 20 20Corporate bonds 20 20 19High-yield bonds 10 10 10

100 100 100

In conjunction with the Trustee Directors, the Group has periodically conducted asset-liability reviews for the Scheme. These studies are used toassist the Trustee Directors and the Group to determine the optimal long-term asset allocation with regard to the structure of liabilities within thescheme. The results of the study are used to assist the Trustee Directors in managing the volatility in the underlying investment performance and risk of a significant increase in the scheme deficit by providing information used to determine the Scheme’s investment strategy.

The aim is to hold a globally diversified portfolio of equities, with a target of 60% of equities being held in UK companies and 40% in overseas equities.






Cumulative actuarial gains and losses recognised in the Group statement of total recognised gains and losses (STRGL)

2011 2010£000 £000

Actual return less expected return on assets (6,761) 7,393Changes in assumptions (9,029) (3,587)

Net actuarial (losses)/gains recognised in STRGL (15,790) 3,806At the beginning of the year (24,966) (28,772)

At the end of the year (40,756) (24,966)

Analysis of the movement in the balance sheet liability

2011 2010£000 £000

Shortfall in scheme at beginning of year (15,776) (20,475)Movements:Total recognised in the profit and loss account (4,000) (4,264)Employer contributions – DBS and DCS 5,176 5,034Employer contributions – unfunded obligations 113 123Actuarial (losses)/gains (15,790) 3,806

Shortfall in scheme at end of year (30,277) (15,776)

Amounts for the current and previous four years are as follows:

2011 2010 2009 2008 2007£000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Present value of funded obligations 169,359 160,497 150,506 146,478 146,344Present value of unfunded obligations 728 823 902 955 969

Total scheme obligations 170,087 161,320 151,408 147,433 147,313Scheme assets 139,810 145,544 130,933 111,519 138,714

Deficit (30,277) (15,776) (20,475) (35,914) (8,599)

Experience adjustments on pension scheme liabilities (2,583) -- -- 5,055 --Experience adjustments on pension scheme assets (6,761) 7,393 12,643 (27,097) (1,100)



2011 2010 2009 2008 2007£000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Turnover 135,057 139,253 141,973 175,115 193,783

Operating profit before exceptional items 10,415 14,752 15,116 22,162 30,451Return on sales 7.7% 10.6% 10.6% 12.7% 15.7%

Share of operating results of associate -- (202) (196) (158) (315)Amortisation and impairment of intangible fixed assets (4,616) (4,617) (5,009) (7,067) (8,560)Exceptional income -- -- 10,000 -- 3,757Exceptional costs (3,095) (1,963) (16,927) (38,087) (30,932)Income from investments, interest payable and FRS 17 financing costs (1,683) (2,244) (2,310) (2,065) (2,515)Profit/(loss) before tax 1,021 5,726 674 (25,215) (8,114)Tax (2,549) (1,271) (3,848) (1,117) 2,055Effective rate of taxation 249.7% 22.2% 570.9% 4.4% (25.3%)

(Loss)/profit after tax (1,528) 4,455 (3,174) (24,098) (10,169)Minority interests 66 -- -- -- --Dividends paid during the year 2,779 2,766 2,802 5,608 5,412(Loss)/profit after tax, minority interests and equity dividends paid (4,241) 1,689 (5,976) (29,706) (15,581)

Basic (loss)/earnings per share (10.6p) 32.0p (22.8p) (172.5p) (72.4p)Diluted (loss)/earnings per share (10.6p) 31.1p (22.8p) (172.5p) (72.4p)Adjusted earnings per share 43.1p 64.0p 64.7p 105.1p 140.0pDividends declared per share1 20.1p 20.1p 20.1p 26.4p 40.1pDividend cover (based on dividends declared and adjusted EPS) 2.1 3.2 3.2 4.0 3.5Net assets 40,160 57,060 53,127 55,043 105,174Net debt (17,387) (23,257) (27,517) (34,621) (36,946)

Exceptional itemsReduction in defined benefit pension liabilities -- -- 10,000 -- --Profits on disposal of Scottish newspaper operations -- -- -- -- 3,757

Total exceptional income -- -- 10,000 -- 3,757

Impairment of intangible fixed assets -- (500) (12,363) (33,615) (30,000)Impairment of goodwill in associate -- -- -- (500) --Impairment of tangible fixed assets -- -- -- (477) --Reorganisation and restructuring costs (3,095) (1,484) (3,991) (3,495) (932)Costs incurred to reduce defined benefit pension liabilities -- 21 (330) -- --Refinancing costs -- -- (243) -- --

Total exceptional costs (3,095) (1,963) (16,927) (38,087) (30,932)

12009 includes the 2010 first interim dividend in place of the final dividend for 2009.

Five-year financial summary



Notice of Annual General Meeting

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an Annual General Meeting of theCompany will be held at The Conference Centre at the John InnesCentre on Tuesday 17 April 2012 at noon, to consider and if thoughtfit, pass the following resolutions:

Ordinary resolutions

1 THAT the reports of the directors and auditors and the auditedfinancial statements of the Company for the year ended 31December 2011 be and are hereby received.

2 THAT Ms S Alleyne, retiring as a director at this meeting be elected as a director of the Company

3 THAT Mr S Copeman, retiring as a director at this meeting, be re-elected as a director of the Company.

4 THAT Mr A Jeakings, retiring as a director at this meeting, be re-elected as a director of the Company.

5 THAT Mr M Walsh, retiring as a director at this meeting, be re-elected as a director of the Company.

6 THAT Ernst & Young LLP be re-appointed as auditors for theCompany at a fee to be fixed by the directors.

7 THAT a final dividend of 13.7p per share be paid.

Special resolutions

8 THAT, subject to the passing of resolution 9, the directors begenerally empowered pursuant to section 569 of the CompaniesAct 2006 (the “Act”) to allot equity securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) pursuant to authority conferred byResolution 9 as if section 561 of the Act and the pre-emptionprovisions of the Company’s Articles of Association did not applyto such allotment.

9 THAT for the purposes only of the allotment of ordinary shares inthe capital of the Company pursuant to an election made by theholders of such ordinary shares to receive additional ordinaryshares in accordance with Article 132 of the Company’s Articles of Association, the directors of the Company are generally andconditionally authorised in accordance with section 551 of theCompanies Act 2006 (the “Act”) and in substitution for any existingauthority conferred on them to allot ordinary shares in theCompany up to an aggregate nominal amount of £790,000,such authority to continue for a period of five years from the dateon which this resolution is passed, and further that, pursuant to andin accordance with section 570 of the Act, section 561 of the Actshall not apply to any allotment pursuant to that authority.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARDJO EllisonSecretary2 March 2012

Archant LimitedProspect HouseRouen RoadNorwich NR1 1RE

Telephone: 01603 772772Facsimile: 01603 613276Registered number: 4126997

Notes1 Members are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of

their rights to attend and to speak and vote on their behalf at theAnnual General Meeting (“AGM”). A shareholder may appointmore than one proxy in relation to the AGM provided that eachproxy is appointed to exercise the rights attached to a differentshare or shares held by that shareholder. A proxy need not be ashareholder of the Company. A proxy form which may be used tomake such appointment and give proxy instructions accompaniesthis notice. If you do not have a proxy form and believe that youshould have one, or if you require additional forms, please contactthe Company Secretary on 01603 772810.

2 To be valid any proxy form or other instrument appointing a proxymust be received by post or (during normal business hours only) by hand at Equiniti Limited, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN99 6ZL no later than noon on Sunday 15 April 2012.

3 The return of a completed proxy form will not prevent ashareholder attending the AGM and voting in person should theywish to do so.

4 To be entitled to attend and vote at the AGM (and for the purposeof the determination by the Company of the votes they may cast),shareholders must be registered in the register of members of theCompany at 6pm on Sunday 15 April 2012 (or, in the event ofany adjournment, at 6pm on the date which is two days beforethe time of the adjourned meeting). Changes to the register ofmembers after the relevant deadline shall be disregarded indetermining the rights of any person to attend and vote at theAGM.



Financial calendarfor year to 31 December 2012

30 March “On record” date for 2011 final dividend

17 April Annual General Meeting

20 April Payment of 2011 final dividend

30 June Half year end

3 August Interim statement

14 September “On record” date for 2012 interim dividend

4 October Payment of 2012 interim dividend

REGISTRARSShareholders with questions regarding their shareholding should contact the Company’s registrars:

Equiniti LimitedAspect HouseSpencer RoadLancingBN99 6DA

0871 384 2641

Shareholders may access details of their shareholdings via the internet. To register for the service go to www.shareview.co.uk

Produced and designed for Archant Limited byArchant Dialogue, a division of Archant Community Media LimitedProspect HouseRouen RoadNorwich NR1 1RE

Tel: 01603 [email protected]

Photography by Nick Dawe with additional photography from David BurtonEditorial by Huw Sayer


Commercial Person of the Year Denise EversAdvertising sales manager,Archant Life

Customer Service Person of the Year Rebecca Nelson-Enes 1Customer service manager,Archant Life

Editorial Person of the Year Steve Bodycomb Group design editor,Archant London

Support Person of the Year Jane BerryHR officer,Archant Suffolk

New Media Person of the Year James Parfitt 2Group digital developmentmanager,Archant Specialist

Unsung Hero of the Year Barbara Coker 3Marketing and distributionmanager, Archant KOS Media

Green Person of the Year Anna Turns 4Devon Life staff writer, Archant Life

Employee of the Year Steve Philp 5County sales team leader,Archant Norfolk

Best Use of New Media Digital TeamArchant SpecialistMarianne Bainvel 6,Media sales executive

Innovation of the Year Business and Professional Life Cotswold Life, Archant LifeKaren Cross 7Regional sales manager

Printed Product of the Year Royal Ascot MagazineArchant DialogueSam Overton 8Advertising directorAndy Grant 9Advertising salesKay Brown 10Advertising production controllerShakiba McCormick 11Advertising production

Team of the Year New Revenue Solutions TeamArchant South WestRachel Tester 12Media sales executiveNicky Lowndes 13Training and developmentmanagerEmily Farrington 14Media sales executiveLynn Carpenter 15Media sales executiveStacey Hughes 16Assistant advertisement managerLisa Bengey 17Media sales executive

Also shown in the photo:Highly commended, Best Use of New MediaHOG integrated digitalprogrammeTom Smith 18Phil Sumner 19Adam Browning 20

Cover photo: Some of the 2011 Archant Award winners

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