AddThis SmartLayers

Cambridge Newspapers invests £9m in new presses

Cambridge Newspapers, publishers of the Cambridge Evening News, is investing in £9m in new KBA Colora presses to meet the growing demand for colour from its advertisers and contract print customers.

The new press line will be housed in an extended press hall at the group’s Milton production site, replacing its existing Albert A 510X anilox line which was extended three years ago.

Work on extending the press hall will begin next spring, and the installation of the new presses will begin in November.

When fully operational in late summer 2008, it will be capable of printing up to 70,000 full colour newspapers of up to 192 pages per hour, allowing it to effectively split the press into two 96-page paper full-colour presses.

As well as publishing the five-edition Cambridge Evening News, Cambridge Newspapers also produces 11 weekly newspapers, including the Cambridge Town Crier, Ely Weekly News, Haverhill Weekly News and St Neots Weekly News, and a range of magazines.

Managing director Andy Gough said: “We are currently operating within enormous restrictions in our press operation as we fight to meet customer demands for colour with limited capacity.

“The new press line will open up a whole variety of new business opportunities and will improve life in the pressroom no end.

“Most important of all will be the enormous benefits that this investment will bring to our advertisers, our readers and our contract print customers.”

Cambridge Newspapers is part of Iliffe News and Media – in turn part of Yattendon Investment Trust – and as well as its own titles it also acts as a contract printer for a growing number of external publishers, a sector it plans to expand following the new press investment.

David Fordham, chief executive of Cambridge Newspapers, said: “This investment demonstrates the enormous confidence and commitment our group continues to have in the future of print within our developing multi-media portfolio.”