Indian pre-press firm Express KCS has developed a bespoke online ad production system, Ella, that allows the magazine's clients to build their own ads.

Express KCS managing director Robert Berkeley (pictured) said the deal proved that offshore pre-media could be as sophisticated as local services, but at a lower cost.

The move could signal the start of a trend for NI property magazines. "I don't want to pre-empt anything, it depends how we perform, but the potential is there. Offshoring is the way forward," said Berkeley.

NI head of corporate development Andrew Perry-Smith said: "News International is a demanding client and Express KCS has usually exceeded our expectations."

Ella combines a custom-developed ad production system and manual page layout for clients to produce print-ready PDFs from their browsers without the need for plug-ins or specialist software.