Struggling Mirror publisher Reach lures turnaround veteran Whiley to board

The struggling publisher of the Daily Mirror is turning to the boardroom veteran who oversaw the recovery and sale of banknote printer De La Rue as the media group battles to revive its fortunes

Sky News has learnt that London-listed Reach will announce on Monday that it is appointing Clive Whiley as a non-executive director.

City sources said Mr Whiley's appointment to Reach's board would put him squarely in the frame to become the company's next chairman.

Reach has been searching for a successor to Nick Prettejohn, who has chaired it since 2018, for the last six months.

A number of institutional investors are said to have been keen for Reach to recruit a heavyweight chair with significant turnaround experience as it battles accelerating declines in print and online circulations across its titles.

"The company urgently needs a reset to tackle the challenges it is facing," said one shareholder source.

A person close to Reach insisted no decision had been made about the next appointment of its chairman, despite Mr Whiley's credentials.

Last week, Reach axed a further 220 editorial jobs, the latest in a series of bloodlettings at what for decades has ranked among Britain's most influential newspaper publishers.

The company also said it would close its Kent Live and Aberdeen Live websites, which it said reflected its "market position" in those areas.

Reach now has a market valuation of just £128m, having seen its shares slump by a further 38% over the last year.

The owner of the Daily Express and Daily Star, Reach has seen its share of the national newspaper market slide over the last decade amid a lack of investment in the titles.

It also publishes the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo.

The company is now run by Piers North, who took over from Jim Mullen last year when he left to join The Jockey Club.

After last week's job cuts, it employs more than 3,000 people, with about two-thirds of them involved in production and editorial roles.

Mr Whiley has earned a reputation as a corporate turnaround expert, having overseen the break-up and sale of banknote printer De La Rue last year.

He now chairs the Scottish television group STV as well as Mothercare, which warned last Friday that it was fighting for survival amid the impact of the Iran war on its franchise operations in the Middle East.

Mr Whiley also sits on a number of other public company boards.

Reach declined to comment on Sunday.

(c) Sky News 2026: Struggling Mirror publisher Reach lures turnaround veteran Whiley to board