The Trinity Mirror Group has announced a pilot for a scheme that will see the Crewe Chronicle’s entire staff work from home.

Revealed last week, the home-working initiative will come into action as the local paper’s offices close in May. Trinity Mirror – a British newspaper and magazine published with 240 regional papers and five national papers to its name – has said it will be a good opportunity to remove “costly infrastructure” while investing “in journalism not bricks and mortar”.

The full-time staff of the north-west newspaper, which has been running since 1874, will be using existing technology to complete their usual tasks but in a more agile and mobile way. The Crewe Chronicle said: “This is a pilot to evaluate how working differently, and utilising available technology can enable us to control costs without reducing the number of journalists we employ.

“We’re harnessing the benefits of mobile technology to allow reporters to work in local markets and remove costly infrastructure. We want to invest in journalism not bricks and mortar.”

The news is indicative of two major trends in the journalism industry. Firstly, as print and online publications struggle with tighter budgets and falling revenue, having staff work from home is now an increasingly common means of alleviating the strain on the employer of supplying the necessary tools, infrastructure and physical space for workers to complete their job.

Secondly, the ability to use new technology – namely mobile devices connected to the company's applications and CMS via the cloud – enables journalists to conduct their work from the locations they are covering, rather than in an office many miles away.