Ringier: Bern Bellevue suite terminated
According to research by the Sonntagszeitung, the Swiss publishing house Ringier has terminated its long-standing lease with the Hotel Bellevue Palace, effective at the end of the year.
As the Sonntagszeitung writes in its current issue, Ringier is parting ways with its Bernese Nobel dépendance after thirty years for financial reasons. The amount of the savings is not disclosed, but it is assumed to be in the six-digit range annually. The suite represents the rise of the Ringier papers and their political journalist Frank A. Meyer in Federal Berne, the newspaper says.
Since 2010, the premises have been used by Ringier publicist Hannes Britschgi. The termination was personally instigated by Group CEO Marc Walder and is a consequence of the pressure to cut costs at Dufourstrasse. The Sonntagszeitung interprets the decision as a turning point in the recent history of the Swiss media: "In the communications sector, the time for clunkers is over; there is no longer much emphasis on representation. Saving and efficiency are the new currency of media managers."
