Beware the Wild East!

BEWARE of magazine companies relocating to Eastern Europe and setting up subsidiaries there. Recently one UK business-to-business (trade) magazine group relocated some of its titles to Romania, while retaining others at head office in the UK.

One of the relocated magazine editors offered a freelance journalist £80 per 1000 words - this had been the rate 10 years before. His excuse for the paltry sum was that the magazine is now part of a subsidiary to the main company and local Romanian (lower) rates now apply.

The freelance rejected this sum and insisted on the current UK rates paid by the same parent company - £150 per 1000 (still paltry but better). The editor accepted - it pays to negotiate.

But is this the start of a pattern? Tell us if you have similar stories...