 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Newsquest |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Headquarters | 2 Crawfurd Street,Greenock PA15 1LH |
| Circulation | 4,116 (as of 2024)[1] |
| Website | greenocktelegraph |
TheGreenock Telegraph is a localdaily newspaper servingInverclyde (the council area containing the towns ofGourock,Greenock andPort Glasgow), Scotland.
Founded in 1857, it was the firsthalfpenny daily newspaper inBritain. It was for a timeGreenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette, owing to the massive amount of maritime traffic moving in and out ofGreenock's harbours. This information is still published, but only as a column entry.
Originally based in Charles Street, Greenock, the printing works were bombed during theGreenock Blitz in May 1941. However the printers worked on to produce emergency editions, despite sustaining multiple cuts from the shattered glass lodged in thepresses.
It is known locally asThe Tele (although this is pronouncedTilly). Several features such asViator (Latin fortraveller) have formed part of theTelegraph for decades. Although it concerns itself primarily with news from Inverclyde, WestRenfrewshire andNorth Ayrshire it occasionally runs national stories on its front and inner pages.
The paper was printed on site at its previous location in Crawfurd Street in Greenock from the 1960s. Long published by Orr, Pollock & Co., it was published byClyde & Forth Press, who owned a range of local titles in Central Scotland and a few titles in the south of England. The company went into receivership after the death of Deirdre Romanes and were acquired by management andLloyds Bank under the name Romanes Media in 2012.[2]Newsquest acquired Romanes Media in 2015.[3][4]
In 2016, citing "challenging trading conditions" Newsquest Scotland closed the former departments of Romanes Media Group in Clydebank and Greenock, which housed its art desk and sub-editing operations, while its credit control and accountancy departments in Greenock also closed with the loss of a further four jobs;[5] since then, the Telegraph has been printed off-site at Newsquest's press atCarmyle, just southeast of Glasgow. The building that housed the original printing press was stripped out and sold to a local car sales dealership.
In 2022, the newspaper's main office was significantly remodelled with most internal structures being stripped out, editorial and advertising teams relocated, and the remaining building being sub-let as hireable storage space. The Crawfurd Street building was finally closed in October 2025 and the remaining staff moved to premises rented from Riverside Inverclyde at Ladyburn Business Centre, Pottery Street, Greenock.
Thenewspaper archive is held at the Watt Institution who have original copies dating back to 1857 which can be viewed on microfilm.
The most recent local Editor was David Goodwin, formerly the title's Court Reporter. Since his departure in 2024, the title is overseen by Newsquest Group Editors, Gillian Murphy and Craig Borland. DS[1]
The current average daily readership is 4116, falling from its previous figure of 4691.[2]