Hold The Front Page said an announcement to staff stated: “As everyone understands, in the decades since we opened the Thorpe site, our industry has gone through many changes.
“For the first time, a third party is now able to offer the capacity and flexibility to print all our daily and weekly papers, providing substantial cost savings. Our business continues to invest into growth areas such as our digital platforms, to keep Archant robust and futureproof.”
Archant chief executive Jeff Henry will step down on Friday (26 September), after five years, while chairman Simon Bax will take up the newly created role of executive chairman.
Henry said: “Archant is committed to delivering the best possible service to our readers and advertisers in the most cost-effective manner.
“The Broxbourne printing plant is one of the largest and most technologically advanced in the world which will ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality printed newspapers to our readers in the most cost efficient manner.”
Archant has been undertaking various measures to offset the effects of continuing declining advertising revenues and print readership numbers, which saw group revenues drop from £95.5m in 2017 to £87.2m last year, while operating profit fell from £4.7m to £2.7m in the same period.
In May it had been rumoured that the business, which was founded in 1845 and currently employs around 1,200 staff, could be put up for sale.