The newspaper publishers decision came after advertisers expressed their anger that NI was charging them auditing fees twice to have advertisements appear in the broadsheet and tabloid editions of the Times.

The Times current gatekeeper rates stand at 498 for a broadsheet page and an extra 388 for the tabloid edition.

A spokesman for the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) said: We are very pleased with NIs decision, its something that we have been campaigning on for several years.

Other repro houses also welcomed the decision, which, from April, means they will be able to deal directly with NI via the artwork delivery system QuickCut.

Network (London) managing director Paul Stonebridge said that it could save his company 100,000 a year. From our perspective its fantastic news. When we handled that work for clients we incurred those charges, so its great news, said Stonebridge.

The only apparent loser is Mullis Morgans News Stream business, the incumbent gatekeeper, although it will still act as a service provider to NI.

In a statement Mullis Morgan Group managing director Keith Green said that the move was a natural progression in an industry that has always been the first to embrace new technology.

However, one industry source suggested that the NI gatekeeper status could be worth around 3m to the Mullis Morgan Group. In October Londons Fusion Group was awarded gatekeeper status for Express Newspapers, replacing Mullis Morgan Group (PrintWeek, 30 October).

While the ISBA welcomed the move it is still concerned about the costs involved in supplying the Independent and Times with an additional reformatted version of the same advert for their tabloid editions.

Story by John Davies