The site is responsible for printing the Shropshire Star regional evening newspaper and Shropshire Newspapers weekly newspaper titles with a total readership of more than 500,000.

The new units will consist of three Goss Colorliner four-high towers, two folders and four reelstands.

All the equipment is due to be installed and running by the spring of 2005 and follows on from a major press expansion at the factory with Goss in 1995.

MNA group director Paul Liggens says: The ability to upgrade our Crusader presses on a step by step approach as finances allow has enabled us to expand in line with our companys business plan and take advantage of the most advanced press developments.

Goss appears to have created a niche in the market for adding colour towers to existing presses.

The new towers will enable each press to produce 32 pages in straight colour or 64 pages collect. In addition, each press will have the ability to run a maximum of six webs meaning 96 pages straight or 192 collect.

Goss technical sales manager Richard Grzelczyk says: We have supplied an imposition driven press that holds historical records so that the exact parameters from a previous job can be repeated. This ensures that the settings best used for a specific publication are defined and can be used again and again.

by Tony Brown