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Envelope titled 'Chief Accountant , 1954-1969' containing correspondence with, and papers from Cooper Brothers and Co, accountants, as well as Kenneth Searle, Horace Milner and others.

Subjects discussed include the appointment of staff and salaries; staff expenses and the allocation of company credit cards; the purchase of tax revenue certificates; Branch Office Audits; advertising statistics; 'Report on the Proposal to Use a 555 Plugged Programme Computer in Conjunction with Existing ICT Equipment'; paying wages by cheque and newsletters of The Advertising Association (May and July 1966).
Creator: Manchester Guardian and Evening News Limited; Chairman's Office; Laurence Prestwich Scott

Signed minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors of Guardian Newspapers Limited (GNL) from 21 November 1967 (first meeting) until 18 December 1974. Not indexed.
Meetings were held at 192 Grays Inn Road, London or 3 Cross Street, Manchester.

Present or attending the meetings are (in order of appearance): PW Gibbings; Alastair Hetherington; MGA Jack; HG Milner; GP Taylor; WH Thomas; JC Markwick; Stanley Porter; BLB Hutchings (Lovell, White & King); JJT Stephens (Lovell, White & King); FA Ravenscroft (Cooper Bros & Co); MA Anderson; JHM Kelvie; HC Thompson; JM Cole; RS Rix; NH Thompson; and HJ Abbiss.

The first meeting of the board of directors records the initial administration of the new company including: the incorporation of the company; appointment of directors and secretary; recording of the registered office of the company as 3 Cross Street, Manchester; recording of the company bank account to be opened; recording the common seal of the company (impressed into minutes); and the transfer of shares and the register of members.

Regular items discussed at the meetings include newspaper sales and promotions; advertisement sales; production (including Lancashire Colour Printers and newsprint supplies); the company's financial position and budget; editorial appointments; strategy and development.

Other items discussed include (with year of first recording):
Guardian Weekly (1967); Guardian Business Services (1967); impact of devaluation of pound sterling (1967); price increases (1968); acquisitions and shares; editorial strategy (spring 1968); investigation of colour printing (1968); content aimed at women (1968); new building at Deansgate, Manchester (1968); facsimile transmission (1968); Autumn Plans including staff and layout changes - supporting paper (July 1968); readership figures; facsimile production (1968); negotiations with NUJ/NPA (1968); young readers (1968); university exam results (1969); Film 'News Story' (1969); Saturday papers (1969); Guardian's 150th anniversary (1970); Northprint Ltd (1970); wholesalers dispute (1970); commercial radio (1971); European syndication (1971); group structure (1972); investigations into Guardian sharing The Observer's premises at Printing House Square, London (1972); Guardian Study Vacations (part of Guardian Business Services) (1972); typeface change (1973); Gemini News Service (1973); impact of Price Commission (1973); fuel supplies for distribution (1973); shortening working weeks (1973); London printing, contract with The Times (1973); Peter Preston's visit to USA to investigate new technology production (1974).

The minutes of two meetings with separate item numbering sequences are also filed in this volume:
29 December 1967: Extraordinary General Meeting of GNL, 3 Cross Street, Manchester, concerning the increasing of the capital of the company.
5 April 1973: Meeting of a sub-committee of GNL, 192 Grays Inn Road, London, concerning the proposal to purchase Gemini News Service.
Creator: Guardian Newspapers Limited

Three folders, titled 'Evening Chronicle Project 1960', 'Evening Chronicle Closure- NN Policy Reviews, Notice to Trade Unions, Notice to Staff, 1963-4' and 'Newspaper Economies, 1963-4'. Documents relate to the effectation of a merger, between the Evening Chronicle, and the Manchester Evening News, under the newly formed North News Ltd, and to the decision to discontinue publishing the former.

Folder titled 'Evening Chronicle Project 1960' relates to the merger between the Manchester Evening Chronicle and the Manchester Evening News. It has been divided into three sections. The first section comprises announcements (both internal, and advertised), letters to trade unions, letters to staff, and memoranda to executives on the formation of North News Ltd. The second section contains correspondence with Roy Thomson, chairman of Thomson Newspapers Ltd and others, on reaching an agreement, and on the logistics of effecting a merger. The third section is titled 'notes on negotiating policy and procedure' and contains profit and loss accounts for both the Manchester Evening Chronicle and the Manchester Evening News, as well as notes on meetings held with Kenneth Searle, Roy Thomson, TE Henry and others on reaching and finalising an agreement. Also included is correspondence with both Tatham, Worthington & Co. solicitors, and Cooper Brothers & Co. Accountants, concerning the effecting of a merger. 1959-1960.

Folder titled 'Evening Chronicle Closure - NN (North News) Policy Reviews, Notice to Trade Unions, Notive to Staff 1963-4'comprises a report by Cooper Brothers & Co Ltd on the methods of effecting a merger, administrative and financial considerations, and possible terms of settlement, 7 January 1960; report to the North News Board, 8 weeks subsequent to the merger (nd); various reviews of the Evening Chronicle position leading up to the decision to close; notice to staff, on the intention to close the Evening Chronicle; notice sent to Evening News executives on the decision; an envelope of press cuttings, containing coverage of the closure, July 1963; copies of letters sent to staff, informing them whether or not they have been made redundant by the closure; documents relating to the Evening Chronicle reduncancy scheme, and correspondence with both the staff affected, and the trade unions that represent them. These include the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants and the National Union of Journalists. 1960-1965.

Folder titled 'Newspaper Economies 1963-64' containing general correspondence on 'How to make a Paper Pay' and 'Can Competition Survive in the Newspaper Industry?' Correspondents include WB Reddaway, director of the Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge, and members of the Typographical Association. September 1963.
Creator: Manchester Guardian and Evening News Limited; Chairman's Office; Laurence Prestwich Scott