News
Joint announcement of the sale of the Jewish Chronicle, 23 April 2020
We are delighted to announce the newspaper has been rescued
April 23, 2020 10:14
We are delighted to announce the newspaper has been rescued
April 23, 2020 10:14A statement from the Jewish Chronicle Consortium:
We are delighted to announce that our effort to rescue the Jewish Chronicle from liquidation has prevailed. The oldest Jewish newspaper in the world will go to print next week, as it has done for the last 180 years. It is right and proper that its liabilities will be met, its creditors will be paid, and its staff made whole.
Britain’s Jewish community deserves a general interest periodical with the breadth and stature of the Jewish Chronicle. It is a vital pillar of communal life and must have a secure, sustainable, and independent future.
The newspaper industry is experiencing severe financial difficulties across the developed world, and the Jewish Chronicle would have disappeared but for philanthropic support.
We are not treating the Jewish Chronicle as a commercial venture but as a community asset. For that reason, we are establishing a UK charitable trust that will control the Jewish Chronicle. Trustees who command the respect of the community, and have demonstrated commitment to editorial independence and impartiality, will be appointed to oversee this trust.
Those donors that have made philanthropic contributions to secure the future of this treasured institution are entitled to their privacy, and will have no say in editorial policy, nor any beneficial ownership of the Jewish Chronicle. The current editorial direction of the Jewish Chronicle will be maintained under the leadership of Stephen Pollard and his editorial team.
It is our hope that together we can put the Jewish Chronicle in a position to thrive, and secure a future every bit as rich and meaningful as the paper’s past.
A statement on behalf of:
Jewish Chronicle Newspaper Limited, The Kessler Foundation, The Jewish Chronicle Trust Limited
The Board of Jewish Chronicle Newspaper Limited, the company that owns the Jewish Chronicle, has today placed it into liquidation and the paper has been sold to a newly incorporated company, JC Acquisition Limited, established by a Consortium led by Sir Robbie Gibb, former Head of Communications at 10 Downing Street. This brings to an end decades of ownership by the Kessler Foundation, a registered charity, and members of the wider Kessler family, and it marks the beginning of a new chapter in the almost 180 year life of the JC.
Under the Consortium’s offer, all identified creditors, including staff, should be paid substantially in full, and the Consortium members have indicated that they intend to invest heavily to secure the future of the paper.
The Consortium has given assurances that they are committed to editorial independence and impartiality and that it is their intention that the paper will be placed in a charitable trust in due course. The Directors and the Trustees of the Kessler Foundation and Jewish Chronicle Trust, the two trusts which together owned the paper and were charged with maintaining the integrity of the JC, have drawn comfort from the fact that the members of the Consortium are people of good standing both from within the Jewish Community and outside.
The past weeks have been very difficult for the JC’s staff and all parties would like to thank them for their hard work in keeping the show on the road from home and for handling the uncertainty with stoicism.
Alan Jacobs, outgoing chairman of the JC, said: “My time as JC Chairman has now come to an end and I wish the publication every success under the control of Sir Robbie Gibb and his Consortium members. I will of course remain an avid reader and supporter of the JC and I look forward to the seeing the fruits of the Consortium’s new investment in the years ahead.
“I have previously thanked the generous individuals who have bankrolled the JC this past year. Those donors can be proud that their combined generosity allowed the JC to survive long enough to help to see off Jeremy Corbyn and friends, one of the greatest threats to face British Jewry in the JC’s existence.”
Michael Goldberg, Chair of Trustees of the Kessler Foundation, said: “The JC has been playing a central role in and for the UK Jewish community for almost 180 years. The Kessler Foundation was established through the generosity and foresight of the Kessler family almost 40 years ago to act as guardian of the newspaper. Through the Consortium, others are now picking up that responsibility. We would like to thank them for their significant investment, particularly in these troubled times, and wish the JC a long and successful future continuing proudly to represent the community with an independent voice under its new stewardship.
“We would also like to thank the many members of the community whose generous donations enabled the Jewish Chronicle to maintain its vital work up to this point. This transaction will enable the Kessler Foundation to re-invest those donations in other worthwhile causes and we intend to consult with donors about the redeployment of these funds.”
David Wolfson, Chair of the Jewish Chronicle Trust, said: “The Jewish Chronicle Trust Ltd is charged with 'maintaining and enhancing the standards and integrity of the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ newspaper', and its editorial independence. The Trust’s sole aim has been to see the JC survive and flourish in good hands. We have supported the process leading to the Consortium’s ownership of the JC because we believe, in the current circumstances, that to be the best way to keep the JC’s heart beating. We trust that the Consortium will maintain the high regard in which the JC has been held for the last 179 years. We wish Sir Robbie, the Consortium, and everyone associated with the JC, well: chazak ve’ematz – be strong and of good courage.”
