Westminster Press was a British group of regional and local newspapers within S. Pearson and Son. The company was founded in 1921 and took its name from the London Westminster Gazette. It became the leading publisher of weekly papers in the United Kingdom and ran centres in Darlington, Oxford and Brighton. Pearson agreed to sell the group to Newsquest for about ã305 million in August 1996; completion followed in 1997 after competition clearance.
The firm was formed as a Pearson-controlled holding in 1921 and took its name from the Westminster Gazette, a newspaper in which Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray was the leading shareholder.
The Westminster Gazette ran from 1893 to 1928. It switched to morning publication on 5 November 1921 and merged with the Daily News on 1 February 1928 to form the Daily News and Westminster Gazette.
The group expanded by acquiring provincial titles. One example was the Stamford Mercury, which "first passed into the hands of a national chain when the then Westminster Press Provincial Newspaper bought it in 1929".
Pearson family interests directed Westminster Press for most of the twentieth century. Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, is linked to the groupâÂÂs origins through his ownership of the Westminster Gazette and development of allied provincial holdings.
Senior figures connected with the group included Patrick, Lord Gibson, who joined the Oxford Mail in 1947 and became a Westminster Press director in 1948, and Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl, who served as chairman from 1974 to 1993.
Westminster Press ran regional publishing houses that produced a daily and associated weeklies. Production and printing were increasingly centralised in publishing houses serving multiple titles.
On industry measures Westminster Press ranked first among weekly provincial publishers in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, it had 50 titles with weekly circulation of 603,000. By 1974, this had grown to 94 titles and 1,234,000 weekly circulation (derived from the Royal Commission on the Press data).
The company argued that group ownership preserved local identity. The company emphasised "each major community to be covered specifically, under separate editors" and said group ownership was "quite unlike the uniformity of multiple retailing". The company also stated that advertising yield could vary by "as much as 60%" between regions and that each division had to produce "satisfactory financial results within its own market".
The Northern Echo was Westminster PressâÂÂs best-known daily. Under editor Harold Evans from 1961 to 1967 it ran campaigns on air pollution on Teesside and on cervical cancer screening that drew national attention.
In 1977 journalists at the Darlington centre began a dispute over a post-entry closed shop clause. A closed shop is an agreement under which employees must be members of a specified trade union as a condition of employment. By 1 December 1977 The Times reported that the stoppage "affects the Northern Echo, the Evening Despatch, the Darlington & Stockton Times, and the Durham Advertiser series" and had "lasted nearly six months".
Before Christmas the Northern Echo appeared with a skeleton staff and "was produced by four executives and a district reporter" while "106 journalists" remained on strike. On 6 January 1978 "a solution... is in sight" and "the original demand for a closed shop will not be conceded". Reuters then reported a vote to end the 32-week stoppage and accept a new pay deal at the Northern Echo and three sister papers.
Pearson began a sale process in June 1996. At the time it was reported as a "chain of 60 newspapers, including the Northern Echo, the Brighton Evening Argus and the Oxford Mail" and "could fetch up to pounds 300m". On 5 August 1996 Newsquest announced it had bought Westminster Press for ã305 million. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission later decided that the acquisition would not be expected to operate against the public interest, and completion followed in 1997. Contemporary coverage noted that Newsquest was backed by KKR, with Cinven taking a significant minority stake after closing.
Most titles continued within Newsquest. In 1999 Newsquest was bought by Gannett.
The following list summarises titles documented under Westminster Press. It is not exhaustive.
Company records are held at The National Archives under "Westminster Press Ltd" and "Westminster Press Provincial Newspapers Ltd". A company booklet, The Westminster Press: Provincial Newspapers (1952) by A. P. Duncum, provides a primary-source overview.