Evening Standard to axe 150 jobs as it scraps daily newspaper

It blamed the shift to home working and increased WiFi on the London Underground, which has hit the freesheet’s readership and left it with hefty losses.

A source close to the company insisted that the Standard would maintain as many reporting positions as possible, saying the cuts would largely fall in production as print operations are reduced.

Consultations with affected staff will take place over the summer. Bosses have not provided a date for the end of the daily edition but it is not expected before September.

The future of the glossy ES Magazine is also up in the air after executives said they will consult on reducing the frequency of its publication.

The deep cuts come as the Standard tries to shore up its future after years of unsustainable losses.

The freesheet has been hammered by lockdowns, the shift to home working after the pandemic and a recent downturn in the advertising market.

In October, print circulation dropped below 300,000 for the first time since it abandoned its cover price in 2009. The title’s circulation peaked at more than 900,000 in 2016.

In a further blow, surging inflation and print costs have also hit the publication’s finances. The newspaper has shrunk to an average of around 30 pages, down from roughly 70 a decade ago.

The Telegraph has learnt that the Standard explored shutting down its print operations last year. 

It hired now-defunct PR and marketing firm Science Magic, led by David Pemsel, former Guardian executive, to explore a move to purely digital operations, but ultimately abandoned the idea.

Sources said Lord Lebedev ultimately decided to pull the plug on the print edition following pressure from Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel, his Saudi co-investor.

A senior executive at the Standard denied this, insisting: “Lord Lebedev is by far the majority owner of the Evening Standard and it is untrue to say that anyone else dictated decisions.”