National World agrees new print deal with Newsquest

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08 August 2023

Print buying

Some of the JPI news brands that were acquired by National World

National World is moving print production for its titles in England and Scotland to Newsquest, ending its long-standing production agreements with Associated Print Holdings’ Dinnington and Thurrock sites, and with DC Thomson in Dundee.

The new partnership will take effect in Q4.

In Northern Ireland, National World will continue to print at Associated’s Carn plant, and at Interpress.

National World director of content sales Tina Callcutt commented: “We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with Newsquest for the production of our Scotland and England newsbrands from Q4, 2023.

“We will be working with our local teams over the coming weeks to make the required adjustments needed in preparation of transitioning to these new arrangements,” she said.

Callcutt said the group would be exiting its existing arrangements “with regret”, and thanked the production teams at the three print sites “who have provided a high level of service to National World over a number of years”.

The quantum of the contract was not disclosed. National World's largest brands include The Yorkshire Post, The Scotsman, Portsmouth News and The Star.

Calcutt told Printweek: “We publish 120 newspapers in total, with print runs totalling approximately 840,000 copies per week.”

She said National World was “firmly committed” to continuing to produce print editions.

JPIMedia sold its three print sites – Dinnington, Portsmouth and Carn – to Associated parent DMG Media in October 2020. The Portsmouth site was shut last year.

National World then acquired JPI’s news brands in January 2021, in a £10.2m deal.

Newsquest has print sites at Deeside, Oxford, Weymouth and Glasgow. Newsquest is owned by US group Gannett.

The news comes amid ongoing industry speculation that large media groups could combine their currently under-utilised printing assets to improve efficiencies and cut costs.

In July News UK paused plans to shut its Knowsley facility to explore "credible plans" for its future.

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