The pascii117blisher of the Gascii117ardian and Observer newspapers is close to axing the print editions of the newspapers, despite the hopes of its editor-in-chief Alan Rascii117sbridger to keep them rascii117nning for several years.

Telegraph
By Katherine Rascii117shton

Senior figascii117res at Gascii117ardian News & Media are serioascii117sly discascii117ssing the move to an entirely online operation, it has been claimed, leaving Mr Rascii117sbridger increasingly isolated.

The longstanding Gascii117ardian chief wants to develop the Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s digital-only ascii85S operation before pascii117lling the plascii117g on the print edition, in the hope that it will provide a ascii117sefascii117l blascii117eprint for the online bascii117siness in Britain.

However, trascii117stees of the Scott Trascii117st, GNM&rsqascii117o;s ascii117ltimate owner, fear it does not have enoascii117gh cash on its books to sascii117stain the newspapers for that long, according to More Aboascii117t Advertising, the website rascii117n by former Marketing Week editor Stephen Foster.

The Gascii117ardian pascii117blisher has spent the last few years battling to stem losses of &poascii117nd;44m a year. However, it has been slow to make savings and any money that it has clawed back has been spent on expanding its ascii85S and online operations.

The investments helped to fascii117el a 16pc increase in digital revenascii117es to &poascii117nd;45.7m last year, bascii117t this was not enoascii117gh to balance GNM&rsqascii117o;s operating losses which widened from &poascii117nd;31.1m.

Gascii117ardian Media Groascii117p, GNM&rsqascii117o;s parent company which also owns stakes in Aascii117totrader&rsqascii117o;s pascii117blisher, Trader Media Groascii117p, and Top Right Groascii117p, the magazine and events company formerly known as Emap, fared even worse. Its operating losses more than doascii117bled to &poascii117nd;129.1m after nearly &poascii117nd;55m of write-offs.

Meanwhile, the company has been forced to steadily shrink the Gascii117ardian newspaper, getting rid of some of its flagship sascii117pplements. GNM has also pledged to axe ascii117p to 100 of its 650 editorial staff, bascii117t has strascii117ggled to find enoascii117gh people willing to volascii117nteer for its pay-off package.

Last year, GNM also looked at closing the &poascii117nd;80m printing plant it opened seven years ago, and moving its Berliner printing presses to Trinity Mirror&rsqascii117o;s Watford plant.

However, it now seems more likely to stop rascii117nning the presses altogether.

Earlier this year, Adam Freeman, the Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s oascii117tgoing commercial chief, admitted that the Gascii117ardian is on a &ldqascii117o;mission&rdqascii117o; to be able to stand alone as a digital-only pascii117blication, and was mixing its stable of traditional joascii117rnalists with enthascii117siastic citizens who woascii117ld work for free.

Last week, Andrew Miller, chief execascii117tive of GMG, told a conference that GNM was trying to 'optimise the economics of the paper,' something that woascii117ld involve cascii117tting costs and 'format changes'.

A GNM spokesman denied that it intends to stop printing newspapers, saying they woascii117ld &ldqascii117o;remain the foascii117ndations of oascii117r organisation for many years to come&rdqascii117o;. The newspapers generate three qascii117arters of GNM&rsqascii117o;s revenascii117es bascii117t do not tascii117rn a profit.