Boss of Mirror publisher Reach steps down after nearly six years

The chief executive of Mirror and Express newspaper publisher Reach has quit after nearly six years in the role to head up horse-racing company The Jockey Club.

Jim Mullen has stepped down immediately “by mutual agreement”, with Reach chief revenue officer Piers North appointed to replace him, the company said.

Mr Mullen, who was appointed chief executive at Reach in August 2019, will remain available for a short handover period before taking on the post of group chief executive at The Jockey Club on June 1.

(Reach and Mr Mullen) agree that it is an appropriate time, following a strong full-year performance, for him to step down and for the company to take new leadership

Shares in Reach tumbled up to 8% in morning trading on Monday after the announcement.

Reach owns tabloids The Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, The Express newspapers and The Star, as well as a raft of regional titles across the UK.

The group posted better-than-expected full-year earnings earlier this month, with cost-cutting efforts helping offset falling revenues and its digital arm returning to growth at the end of 2024.

Reach chairman Nick Prettejohn said the group and Mr Mullen “agree that it is an appropriate time, following a strong full-year performance, for him to step down and for the company to take new leadership”.

He added: “We are very pleased with the appointment of Piers as chief executive.

“He has a strong track record of leadership and delivery at Reach and brings great experience of both the company and the wider industry.”

Mr Mullen said efforts over the past six years had “put the business in a stronger position, resolving important historical issues and making real progress on our digital growth”.

The group has been slashing costs in the face of industry headwinds, with costs reducing by 6.5% to £439.1 million last year as it axed 13% of its workforce.

The firm said on unveiling a 6.9% rise in annual underlying operating profits to £102.3 million that it expected to trim costs by a further 4% to 5% in 2025.

Together with the wider media sector, Reach was hit hard after firms such as Facebook owner Meta moved in 2023 to prioritise user-generated content above news on their social media sites.

It's a huge honour to lead Reach as we continue to serve essential journalism to our audiences and to move forward with our digital evolution

But Reach has hailed the start of a recovery in its digital business, with all-important page views returning to growth in the final three months of 2024.

New boss Mr North takes on the top job with extensive experience in digital media, having held several senior digital strategy roles both at Reach and at Yahoo, having started his career as a digital journalist.

He joined Reach in 2014.

Mr North said: “It’s a huge honour to lead Reach as we continue to serve essential journalism to our audiences and to move forward with our digital evolution.”