The newsstand edition of New! magazine is now being printed at YM Chantry in Wakefield, with the first issue under the new contract produced over the weekend of 15-16 June.
New! magazine multipack editions, which have a self-cover and are bagged with sister title OK!, are also being printed at Chantry.
According to its latest ABC certificate New! has a weekly circulation of 166,300 with multipacked versions with OK! making up around 50% of sales on average. The multipacked version can range from 60,000 to more than 100,000 copies.
Star TV magazine, also multipacked with OK!, is now being printed short-grain with inline stitching at YM’s York Mailing site.
The titles were previously printed at GD Web Offset in Rotherham.
The fresh deal means YM has become the biggest supplier of magazines to Reach, having added the Daily Mirror’s Saturday We Love TV and Sunday Notebook magazines in February, when the titles were re-shored from the continent.
The group has also extended its deal to print the Daily Express Saturday Magazine, and S Magazine for the Sunday Express.
Reach director of production and distribution Graham Poulett said: “We are very impressed by the service provided and professional approach of the team at YM Group and we are looking forward to working together in this new phase of our partnership.”
James Povey, group publications director at YM Group said he was delighted about the fresh commitment: “We very much appreciate the further trust Reach has placed in YM Group, enabling us to become their major magazine printer in a relatively short space of time,” he said.
YM Group chief executive Stephen Goodman described the wins as a further validation of the group’s publications strategy, which began taking shape three years ago when the group acquired the former Polestar Chantry site, followed by the 64pp short-grain press from Polestar Sheffield.
Goodman told PrintWeek that alongside a number of new contracts, the business was also gaining momentum with its paper wrapping services.
“Despite difficult underlying market conditions we continue to win new contracts and our short-term order books are very positive. We are seeing a lot of growth in paper wrapping because of the environmental benefits and postal savings,” he said.
"Added-value for the current month is ahead of all previous years. This reflects the cumulative benefit of numerous new business wins, both in the commercial and publications sectors."
Goodman also confirmed that YM shareholder and former group managing director Mike Newbould, who stepped back from day-to-day operations following the MBO at the business in 2015, had returned to help with negotiations over future working practices at Chantry, where YM inherited some terms and conditions that dated back to its Watmoughs ownership.
“Mike was invited by us to bring an outside perspective to a specific project. We are going through the working practices at Chantry and how we can align that site more closely with York and Pindar,” Goodman explained.
YM Group had sales of just over £118m in its most recent available results, for the year ending May 2018, and more than 800 employees.
Reach, formerly Trinity Mirror, is the largest national and regional news publisher in the UK following last year's acquisition of Northern & Shell's publishing assets.
