News UK’s supplements will no longer be printed at Prinovis’ Liverpool plant from July.
Following a tender process, the publisher has moved its entire portfolio of weekly newspaper supplements for The Saturday Times, Sunday Times and Sun on Sunday to Walstead and its Bicester facility.
The 5 year contract will officially start on 1st July, with the transition beginning this month.
“We are delighted to have secured this prestigious portfolio of titles which adds to the ever-growing list of blue-chip brands produced by Walstead,” said Paul Utting, Chief Executive Officer, Walstead Group.
“This contract further endorses our market-leading position for high-volume publications and adds to the growing number of newspaper supplements secured by the group in the past 18 months. We have developed a strong relationship with News UK but this contract expands that relationship significantly and we are thrilled to have been entrusted with this responsibility.”
The move will involve changing workflows from the current gravure process to a heatset web offset platform.
Walstead said it had also invested a substantial amount in tech upgrades at Bicester.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Walstead, who have successfully printed a number of News UK magazine publications for over ten years, and we look forward to developing this relationship further as part of the new printing agreement,” added Alan McCann, Publishing Operations Director, News UK.
