Euan Kerr Leaves Thomsons

[Knowsnowt]

My cousin overheard in the supermarket in Dundee Euan as been sacked . he says (Just like politictions )) To spend more time with his family and playing squash. Any truth in it.

[Steve Henderson]

WHAT!!!! Let's hope your cousin overheard someone talking b*****ks! I met Euan last year very very nice man who helped me loads with my work and encouraged me to keep drawing, this has to be bad news if its true! Just when beanomax was getting good!

[Phoenix]

Euan leaves Thomsons in just over half an hour, at 2.30 this afternoon. He has not been sacked. He has accepted a redundancy package and is not disappointed to be going. I will follow this post with another, giving such further explanatory details as I have.

[Phoenix]

According to my source, the problem seems to stem from the fact that the firm is losing millions. They have called in Price Waterhouse to come up with a scheme that will get the company back into profit as soon as possible. Apparently, every employee received a letter about twelve months ago offering voluntary redundancy terms, which needed to be taken up by a particular date. Euan chose not to accept that offer, but is now being allowed to go, at his own request, with a slightly different deal. The policy seems to be to slim the workforce and shed the big earners, Ian Sanderson and Gordon Kieran having already gone. Quite a lot of reporters, overseers and even their in-house artists have also been jettisoned. There are only nine illustrators left although, naturally, freelance artists are still being employed. Departments are being amalgamated, but more jobs are on the line, it would appear, because the aim was to lose 400 people but only 200 or so have so far agreed departure terms.

[Jonny Whizz]

If this is true, then this is TERRIBLE news!

Euan has done a great job editing The Beano and now BeanoMax. Who on earth will replace him?

[Phoenix]

If this is true

When you say 'If', Jonny, I do hope that you are not implying that I am lying? I have simply confirmed the information in Knowsnowt's post. It is a fact. Euan has left the company. He went at 2.30 this afternoon and went off for some sort of celebratory party with members of his family. The equivalent hooley with his work colleagues took place last night. He leaves with his fantastic reputation intact. I would have thought that any conjecture about the BeanoMax could be put on the back burner for the time being. Let's just feel happy for Euan.

[Digifiend]

They have called in Price Waterhouse

That better not mean DCT is under threat of administration, since that's what Price Waterhouse Coopers deal with.

As for Euan leaving, that was a bit sudden, why no heads up? This also explains the Ball Boy reprints in The Beano - if Dave Eastbury is drawing one strip instead of two, they only have to pay half the money.

And now the big question - who's the new BeanoMax editor?

[Conor B]

The title sent a shiver through my whole body!
BeanoMax is my favourite comic at the moment - who will replace him? They'd better not make it worse - or cancel it.

[Digifiend]

Just had a thought - will Alan Digby end up editing both Beano Weekly and Max? After all, a similar arrangement was used during World War II with Adventure and Beano sharing an editor (Stuart Gilchrist).

[NP]

Euan did leave today, and I unfortunately missed his farewell Do yesterday. Alan is looking after BeanoMax, it's not taking early retirement!

[Digifiend]

Thought so. Thanks for confirming that Nigel.

[Phoenix]

That better not mean DCT is under threat of administration, since that's what Price Waterhouse Coopers deal with.

As for Euan leaving, that was a bit sudden

I think the problem here is that people only 'read what they want to read and disregard the rest' (pace Paul Simon). Price Waterhouse are not there because the company is about to go into administration. Thomsons have called them in for the reason I stated. I think that this is sometimes called 'rationalisation'. This normally means that a company has too many employees, many of whom are on high salaries, in a particular financial climate, insofar as that climate affects that company. The consequent slimming-down process would make the company leaner and fitter, better able to ride out the financial storms. All I have heard so far suggests that this is exactly what is happening at Thomsons. In view of my other comments about the employees having been offered voluntary redundancy a year ago, and Euan's response, it is not entirely fair to talk about things happening suddenly. All we can say is that we didn't know about it, but then why should we have known? All such negotiations are private and, as such, none of our business. I am simply led to believe that the rationalisation is set to continue for some time yet, so there will inevitably be more casualties.

[Digifiend]

In fact, anyone not reading this thread doesn't know yet - try Googling "Euan Kerr sacked". You'll find nothing relevant. You'd think it would find this page! "Euan Kerr Beano" brings up the right guy, but nothing about his departure.

Any publications under threat in this streamlining? Like Dandy Xtreme perhaps? (Hope not)

[Phoenix]

try Googling "Euan Kerr sacked". You'll find nothing relevant.

Presumably because he wasn't.

[Steve Henderson]

I suppose its the best way to go, leaving with his head held high and all that. Good luck to him! Although the ground must be feeling pretty shakey in the comic world on every level. Hopefully nothging else at this level or any level will happen too soon! (For the sake of pheonix4evers sanity shall we re-name this topic 'euan kerr lives happily ever after' save him explaining it to us again!)