News UK and DMG Media have announced a joint venture to “establish a sustainable business model for the future of national newspaper printing.”
The proposed move would combine the group’s printing operations, but could lead to the closure of DMG Media’s sites in South Yorkshire (Dinnington) and Essex (Thurrock).
Under the plans, News UK’s 3 Newsprinter sites would remain, including its plant in Knowsley. DMG Media would retain ownership of its Carn print site in Northern Ireland, which is unaffected by the proposal.
“Millions of newspapers are printed and distributed across the UK every day, informing and entertaining millions of their loyal readers. But the reality is that print readership has been in decline for some years now, and the sector has come under increasing pressure to better align capacity with demand,” explained Managing Director of Newsprinters UK, Darren Barker.
“I believe this joint venture is a genuinely exciting solution which sets out a long-term sustainable future for the newspaper printing industry, clients and the national daily newspaper ecosystem in the UK.”
According to the groups, national print circulation has declined by more than 60% in the last decade, while the challenging economic climate, inflation and Covid-19 has added further pressures on the industry.
News UK and DMG Media said that the proposed NewCo would print 3m newspapers every night and almost 22m a week.
The creation of the “NewCo” is subject to consultation and would operate independently with its own senior leadership team drawn from both publishers.
They underlined that this did not represent “closer working between News UK and DMG Media on media, editorial or commercial activity.”
“The news industry has transformed and continues to change rapidly. DMG Media is at the forefront of this transformation and also remains committed to its print titles, its workforce and its readers,” added DMG Media Group Production Director, Julia Palmer-Poucher.
“The decade-long decline in print circulation has not been matched with changes to print capacity and we must find ways to keep physical newspapers, which have an important future, commercially viable. This proposed combination would provide a long-term solution for the Mail print titles and a sustainable future for the newspaper printing industry.
“We are aware this will be an uncertain time for those potentially impacted and our priority is to provide staff with the support they need throughout this process.”
The publishers said they were now engaging with relevant regulatory authorities, including the Competition and Markets Authority.
