Gazeley, a subsidiary of retail giant Wal-Mart, will be the group's development partner for the site and building.

"They specialise in very quick builds and were able to give guarantees that the building would be finished by mid-December," explained Mike Young, who is heading the gravure project.

Gazeley has 13 sites totalling 1,250 hectares under development across Europe, with a further 17 sites set to come on stream. Polestar is in the final stages of deciding whether the new gravure plant will be in the UK or Belgium.

Separately, Polestar has contracted with Italian firm Donau Carbon Siri for the solvent recovery system for the new plant. This is a departure for the group, as Polestar's existing UK gravure plants all use Sutcliffe Speakman equipment.

"Donau have 80% of the European market and we've chosen them because their system offers substantial savings in power consumption," explained Young. "This is a very expensive and critical part of the whole project."

Donau also works closely with Cerutti, which is supplying two new 3.88m-wide gravure presses for the plant. The presses are set to be installed at the beginning of next year.

Separately, Polestar has today announced plans to downsize its East Kilbride web plant, in a move that could ultimately lead to the closure of the business. See story here.