Following the sale of the Independent Newspaper (UK’s 5th most popular quality daily newspaper) for £1, it has been revealed to the FT that the cost of closing the paper would have been between £28 and £40 million.
This explains why the current owners will also meet £9m worth of liabilities as part of the sale.
However, the key is that it shows how long term liabilities can sink a business. How on earth did the independent get it self into this state? Probably by negotiating cheap print deals in return for long term commitments? And, of course, staff redundancy costs and office leases…. Time for a new way of doing business – contractors and freelancers and short term contracts, anyone?
Tags: business failures, business mistakes, Business Strategy, problems with employment law, the trouble with employees, traditional employment problems, why you should employ contractors
