BBC Magazines head of procurement David Halford said he had been impressed with Colour Systems results at every stage of the production cycle.

We trust eve and BBC Top Gear magazine will be in good hands at Colour Systems, he said.

The first issues to be handled by Colour Systems will be produced during March.

It is unclear whether the BBC will look to move the repro contracts for some of its other magazine titles to Colour Systems.

The North London-based pre-press services provider employs 120 staff, and its magazine publishing clients include, Cabal, Emap, Haymarket Publishing, Readers Digest and Hachette Fillipacchi.