The NFRN said: NFRN members in Northern Ireland were appalled this week to discover that the charges they pay to have their newspapers delivered to their store by Newspread (NI) had increased by between 23.16 per cent and 67.27 per cent.
According to its new carriage charge template, a retailer receiving between £100 and £200 worth of newspapers from Newspread (NI) will now have to pay £36.58 a week to the vultures – an increase of £9.08.
Meanwhile, a news retailer selling less than £100 of newspapers will pay an extra £6.90 a week. His charge will now be £32.20 – an increase of 27.27 per cent. To make matters worse, retailers have received incorrect notification of the increases, despite the wholesaler agreeing to this industry standard.
The NFRN’s Northern Ireland President James Simpson said: “This is nothing short of daylight robbery. The lowest charge for our members is £32.20 so if they are handling less than £100 worth of newspapers they will now make nothing, leaving newsagents even unable to pay themselves the minimum wage.”
Mr Simpson continued: “Can’t Newspread see that by raising carriage charges above the current rates of inflation, it will be forcing yet more newsagents out of the marketplace?
“When rival news wholesaler Newspeed disappeared, after losing the News UK business, retailers breathed a sigh of relief as this meant, in any normal market, a reduction in carriage charges. Sadly, it seems this relief was short-lived as the costs imposed on retailers are now the same as when Newspeed existed.
“Newspaper publishers have to take their heads out of the sand and take action to revoke this Newspread decision before the entire news retail estate in Northern Ireland collapses.”
The NFRN will attempt to meet with the board of Newspread at the earliest opportunity and will tell them to be in no doubt that legal action (as is currently the case with another news wholesaler in Northern Ireland) will take place unless the decision is changed.
