Bailey, the chief executive, was at the London Stock Exchange, telling analysts about the outcome of her long-awaited six-month review of Trinity Mirror. One analyst came out of the briefing saying that “Sly plc” had been born.
When Mirror staff called the number they heard a recording of Bailey saying she wanted to tell them the results first-hand, rather than have them read the media spin that would follow her announcement. It was a nice touch and fits with Bailey’s slick management style.
She is good at straight-talking. Investors and analysts will cut her some slack and rejoice that she is not what has gone before at Trinity Mirror.
The image of a dour Philip Graf, her predecessor, offers a stark contrast to the striking Bailey. Expensive jewellery, brightly painted toenails peeping from beneath designer trousers, and a warm smile are all part of the new chief executive’s package.
The past was not quite expunged as Sir Victor Blank, Trinity Mirror’s chairman, sat alongside her at the stock exchange meeting. Even he had made the effort, though, by choosing a pink tie that matched Bailey’s colours. But he had to sit and listen while Bailey attacked the legacy she had inherited.Trinity Mirror’s shares closed on Friday at 483½p and the company’s market value was £1.4 billion.
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More than 500 jobs will go as a result of the new plans. Bailey will not say how many will be in editorial but promises there will be some radical moves in the next few weeks.
There will be “visible” changes to arrest decline. But as speculation continues to mount that Trinity Mirror could be ripe for a takeover, she knows she has limited time and the pressure is on. Investors are sceptical that 500 job cuts is radical enough.
Bailey is always asked about the role and future of Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror. His drive to take the paper away from the traditional tabloid fare of celebrities, soaps and gossip is over. It will aim to become a fun newspaper again and could even revert to its traditional red masthead.
The Mirror’s coverage of the Iraq war was deemed to have been over the top. The articles by the veteran leftwinger John Pilger condemning the war, and the front page that showed Tony Blair with “blood on his hands”, were probably too much for some people. The paper’s circulation has dropped below 2m.
But Morgan stays. Bailey says she speaks to him every day. “Sometimes it is more than once, sometimes by phone, and sometimes face to face.”
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Paul Richards, from Numis media analysts, welcomes Bailey’s “huge dose of dynamism”. He says: “Everything that she has announced makes perfect sense.
“Obviously, execution of the policy is the key, but so far so good. The main thing that comes through is that this is now a very different company to anything we have seen for the past 10 years.
“All lines of communications lead directly to Bailey and the company will be built in her image. The one thing that I was pleased about was that she announced they would be increasing the dividend.”
John Krumins, analyst at Morgan Stanley, admits that the City has warmed to Bailey, but offers a note of caution.
He says: “She didn’t mention shareholders once during her presentation. Maybe she would say that everything she was saying was about shareholders. But there was a lot of ‘I’ and ‘me’ as if this was Sly plc.
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“The one concern is that if I were a shareholder I would be asking, where is she going to extract shareholder value from what she has announced?” The shareholder point is an interesting one. Bailey is now in charge of a plc, a role she has not played before. From now on she knows that all results will be down to her.