Our existing 3.52m TR10 can produce an 88pp Culture size product, this new press will be able to do 96pp. It gives us an extra strip across the web, explained Polestar group sales and marketing director John Ashfield.
A News International spokeswoman said: We are pleased that Polestar has invested in this equipment. It will give us more publishing flexibility and security for our magazine titles.
Polestar will confirm the order in the next few weeks. At the moment it isnt known whether the new press will be a KBA or a Cerutti. Varnicoat, which runs KBA gravure presses, is the most likely plant as it can also handle the wider cylinders.
Polestar revealed its plans to buy a new gravure press for the UK as part of a 25m spend announced last October. At the time it was expected to be a 3.52m wide machine.
