Reach restructures commercial division and launches ‘The Morning Market’

Publisher Reach, which now counts the Irish Daily Star within its stable of newsbrands alongside the Irish Daily Mirror, is to establish a single buying point for both daily newspapers.

The joint print offering will be known as ‘The Morning Market’ and will provide the strongest audience solution in the Irish popular market as it will offer advertisers a combined reach of 222,000 readers going by the latest TGI figures.

Since launching in March, already the likes of HSE, AIB, Lidl and Harvey Norman have availed of the joint package.

The new offering will come under Reach Publishing, a new division within Reach’s commercial team which will be headed up by Catriona Byrne (pictured), whilst Hugh Crowther (also pictured) will deliver all digital marketing solutions as Head of Reach Partnerships.

Commenting on the reorganisation of the commercial team, Padraig Sugrue who is Group Sales Director at Reach said: “We are delighted to inherit such an iconic brand in the Irish Star and to welcome their talented team to Reach. 

“The acquisition has strengthened our print business considerably and the launch of ‘Reach Publishing’ was a natural step to protecting and nurturing this business over the years ahead.   

“Our ‘Morning Market’ solution combines the reach of both our Irish Daily Star and Irish Daily Mirror titles to offer more value for clients and more efficiency for our agency partners. We have seen great demand for our ‘Morning Market’ product already with some of Ireland’s leading brands benefiting from our increased scale. 

“I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome Catriona and her team on board and we believe her experience and strong connections will take Reach Publishing from strength to strength.”

Reach’s current Head of Agency Hugh Crowther will take charge of the Reach Partnerships team, which according to Padraig has seen “exponential growth in recent years.”

Padraig added: “Hugh and his team have been instrumental in this success and our new structure will enable them to focus their efforts in this key growth area of the business.”

Reach became the new owner of Irish Daily Star in November last year when it purchased the then joint venture partner Independent News and Media’s remaining 50% shareholding.