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Contains correspondence relating to the preparation of the Observer budget for 1981. Includes memorandums relating to: capital expenditure, budget cuts needed in 1981 and the potential impact of these, and savings to be made by moving magazine copying in-house. Also information about individual staff salaries; lists of budget codes for Observer cost centres; William Millinship's comments on the projected editorial budget (November 1980); three annotated copies of the budget released on 1 December 1980; figures showing projected newspaper profitability dated January 1981 and correspondence relating to budget statements for April 1981.

Primary correspondents include: Donald Trelford, Roger Harrison, William Millinship, John Nuttall-Smith and Ray Breden.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

Contains correspondence and reports relating to the formulation and review of the 1985/6 Observer budget. Includes: timetables, agreed assumptions and cost centre information used to put together the budget; forecast, spending, including capital expenditure (including the planned purchase of an Amstrad computer), and draft budget figures; memorandums relating to overspends (including libel costs) and to planned and effected cost savings; trading results for the first quarter of 1985/6 and memorandums relating to inserts provison and costs and redundancy provision.

Also includes: a bound copy of the display advertising department budget for 1985/6 and 3 draft copies of the full budget from August and September 1985 (including the copies sent to Lonrho and to the Board for approval).

Primary Correspondents include: Roger Harrison, John Nuttall-Smith, David Bishop, Nick Morrell, Brian S Blelloch and William Millinship.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

Contains correspondence and figures relating to the formulation of the 1986/7 Observer budget. Blank forms for cost centre managers; schedules comparing the current budget with projected, and later actual, costs for 1985/6 and actual costs for the preceding years; memorandums relating to budget assumptions, printing costs, budget cuts and staffing costs particularly in relation to magazine spending, opinion polls costs in relation to the expected election, a planned office move to Battersea; figures showing the editorial cost per column for the year ended 30 September 1986 and a letter from the Lonrho board approving the submitted budget (October 1986).

Primary Correspondents include: John Nuttall-Smith, David Bishop, Roger Harrison and Jean Atkinson
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

Records relating to the purchase, replacement, repair, insurance and parking of company cars, and the expenses involved. Includes sets of figures showing the expenditure limits for different staff bands and other budget information relating to staff vehicles.

Primary Correspondents include: Roger Harrsion,David Bishop, Donald Trelford, Nicholas Morrell, Ron Holmes, Brian Nicholson, John Steel and Joan Scarsbrook.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

Contains correspondence and reports relating to the Observer's financial accounts. Includes memorandums and sets of figures relating to salary increases; projected and actual overspends against budget (1976); auditing, including the Lonrho internal audit (1985); economies, budget control and raising the cover price; insurance; trading performance; capital expenditure including the 1980 procedure for ordering capital equipment; staffing costs; a new purchasing and ordering procedure (1978); employers liability accident claims 1978; expenses accounts including expense policy for 1983; the advertisement account system (1979); checklist for carrying out investigations into companies the Observer may be interested in acquiring (1979); company loans; draft Observer Accounts manual (1981);complaints about the payments section of the Observer accounts department; cheque signatories and authorisation procedures; loss of profits caused by the SOGAT/NGA dispute in 1983; new year's day publishing costs; company credit cards; payroll robbery (1984-1985); photographers losses in Brixton riots (1985); ready reakoners for the second quarter of 1985/1986 and for 1986/1987. The file includes references to Observer Holdings Ltd (later Lockhold); Observer Partners and the US offices of the Observer newspaper.

The first part of this file (up to 1979) consists almost exclusively of memorandums sent from Roger Harrison to John Steel. Later primary correspondents include: Brian Nicholson, John Nuttall-Smith, David Bishop, Ron Holmes, Brian Blelloch and William Millinship.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

General file on Observer Colour Magazine advertising and supplements. Contains correspondence and memorandums relating to a China marketing conference, looking at opportunities with China for UK businesses, sponsored by the Observer. The conference was organised following the publication of a China business supplement by the newspaper.

Further correspondence, memorandums and reports relate to advertising and supplements including; the integration of the magazine with supplements; the space allocated to advertising in the magazine; pop poster inserts; profitability reports; international special supplements; the size of the magazine; details of circulation; complaints received regarding advertising including reproduction complaints; regional advertising pages; the introduction of a gloss cover; competition with other national newspaper magazines.

Primary correspondents include: Roger Harrison; Reg Bloom; Nick Morrell; John Nuttall-Smith; Jeff May.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

General file relating to British Rail and the carriage of the Observer newspaper and magazine by rail.

Contains correspondence, memorandum and agreements concerning: regional production; social occasions; publicity; freight rates; newspaper and magazine rail contracts; holiday periods; rail disputes; delivery by air; the Mirror Group Newspapers rail consortium; trade unions; the transfer of delivery from rail to road; negotiations with British Rail; draft agreements; carriage costs.

Primary correspondents include: Roger Harrison; British Rail; Robert Reid; Nick Morrell; Reg Sudbury; John Nuttall-Smith; Mirror Group Newspapers; Brian Nicholson; Tristan Jones.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

File relating to the proposed arrangement for transport of the Observer colour magazine by Renwicks Freight.

Contains correspondence, reports and memorandums concerning: consultancy fees; British Rail contracts; road distribution; costs; reports on the UK distribution of the Observer; the proposed arrangement; the transfer to road delivery; distribution schedules; an investigation into distribution transport.

Primary correspondents include: Roger Harrison; Brian Nicholson; Reg Sudbury; John Nuttall-Smith; George Metcalfe.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

General file regarding arrangements for circulation during rail strikes.

Contains correspondence and memorandums concerning; staff; production during rail disputes; Paulton Courier; procedures for emergency travel arrangements; strike costs; emergency deadlines; transportation of staff; printing the colour magazine; printing schedules; a map of circulation routes.

Primary correspondents include: Roger Harrison; Tristan Jones; John Nuttall-Smith.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison

General file concerning editorial content. Includes proposed ideas for articles, features and supplements.

Contains correspondence, memorandum and reports largely concerning: sports coverage; the property price index; the make-up of the newspaper; the British Press Awards 1985; travel pages; the property section; distribution of the Times; a profile of Armand Hammer; weekend articles; the position of the crossword; drugs in Britain; review schedules; novel serialisations; a home page; future features; recruitment editorials; a Mexico feature; editorial comparison between newspapers; editorial allocation; proposed articles; promotion; quizzes; biographies and memoirs; the Living section; the omission of world weather; April Fool's Day; New Year features; the editorial budget; new series; circulation; a book by Uri Geller; My Life in Pictures by Charlie Chaplin; layout; Sir Geoffrey Jackson; the Bonington expedition to Everest; Weidenfeld, publishers; Roy Jenkins; Averell Harriman memoirs; printing; biography of Ted Heath; Donald Wintersgill; the Observer house agreement with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ); law articles; the Sun; George Jackson interview; architectural features; advertisements; Ralph Nadar; motoring coverage; crossword compiler Ximenes.

Includes notes from editorial review meetings.

Primary correspondents include: Roger Harrison; Magnus Linklater; Donald Trelford; Nick Morrell; Ken Obank; John Nuttall-Smith; Richard Findlater.
Creator: The Observer Limited; Managing Director's Office; Roger Harrison