The Jewish Chronicle today announces the next phase of its conversion to a charitable structure, with ownership of the newspaper vested in a trust and control exercised by the trustees.

Following our work with Bates Wells, the leading charity and not-for-profit solicitors, a new structure designed to achieve charitable status is being established. Lord Austin of Dudley, Rabbi Joseph Dweck and Jonathan Kandel will join the Board.

Sir Robbie Gibb, who led the successful rescue of the oldest Jewish newspaper in the world from liquidation and threatened closure in 2020, will depart as a Director and divest his shares.

Commenting on the decision, Jake Wallis Simons, the Editor of the JC, said: "For the JC to be owned and controlled by a trust was the stated intention of the consortium who supported the rescue bid before I joined the paper. I am delighted that this is proceeding and will include such high calibre trustees.

"As we progress towards this new chapter, I want to thank Sir Robbie and the original Consortium for their service to our community – the JC may not have been here without them – and am pleased that the new structure will make it possible to expand the charitable support our community’s most important asset requires. I also want to thank the JC's staff and contributors whose talent and dedication makes the paper worth reading."

Lord Austin said: “Since I was first elected as a Labour MP in 2005, I have considered the JC a critical source of information and an essential voice in so many of our national debates. I am honoured to serve as a trustee as the JC becomes a charity, and to help ensure that the paper continues to serve the British Jewish community and the wider public as it has done for so many years."

Rabbi Dweck said: “It's a privilege to become a custodian of the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world, as it enters its next chapter. The new trustees have a responsibility to protect and further this legacy that means so much to so many in the Jewish community. Now more than ever, the JC has a vital role in communicating Jewish values to the nation, and in providing a forum for diverse voices within our community as well for our many friends beyond it."