The story
Founded by David Coupar Thomson in 1905, in Dundee.1
The company began as a branch of the Thomson family business when William Thomson became the sole proprietor of Charles Alexander & Company, publishers of Dundee Courier and Daily Argus. In 1884, David Couper Thomson took over the publishing business, and established it as D.C. Thomson in 1905. The firm flourished, and took its place as the third J in the "Three Js", the traditional summary of Dundee industry ("jute, jam and journalism").
Thomson was notable for his conservatism, vigorously opposing the introduction of trade unions into his workforce, and for refusing to employ Catholics. Among historians of popular culture, the firm has "excited a good deal of interest precisely because it has always shrouded its activities in secrecy... [it] has never allowed scholars access to its archives, and has declined to participate in exhibitions of juvenile literature."
By 2010, the company was producing more than 100 million comics, magazines, and newspapers every year from offices in Dundee, Glasgow, Manchester, and London. In June 2010, 350 jobs at DC Thomson were made redundant with the closure of the West Ward Printworks in Dundee, along with a section of the Kingsway Print Plant.
Although the principal offices are now located outside Dundee city centre at Kingsway, the Courier Building at Meadowside has been retained as the company headquarters. This 1902 building was designed to resemble an American red stone, steel reinforced office block. When a nine-storey tower extension was added in 1960, the architect T. Lindsay Gray kept the same style. The building underwent extensive renovation and reopened to employees in 2017, and is able to accommodate 600 workers.
In 2009 DC Thomson acquired the magazine company This England Publishing, which included This England magazine and Evergreen quarterly magazine. In the same year DC Thomson acquired the Friends Reunited website from ITV for £25.6m, but by 2011 it was valued at £5.2m and was eventually shut down completely in February 2016. In 2013, DC Thomson laid off 46 production staff at its Lang Stracht base in Aberdeen after printing was moved to Dundee.
As of 2016, the company posted an increase in pre-tax profits and revenue whilst employing over 2,000 workers. Despite the falling circulation of newspapers and magazines, DC Thomson attributed the rising profits to company-wide cuts to operating costs and good figures in digital revenues and events. The company went on to say that they would continue to branch out their brand into new areas to support the traditional newspaper and magazine divisions.
In February 2023, it was announced that several "well-loved" titles would be closed and employees would be made redundant as part of a wider restructuring. On 9 February 2023, it was announced that Shout, Living, Platinum Magazine, Evergreen, Animals & You and Animal Planet would be closed with 300 employees being made redundant. In January 2024, the company announced plans to eliminate 55 jobs and shutter four titles: This England, My Weekly Pocket Novels, 110% Gaming and Unicorn Universe.
From Wikipedia’s article on DC Thomson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4