The Trader Media Print Group (TMPG) has won the contract to print two weekly supplements, The Herald Magazine and The Sunday Herald Magazine, from the Scottish Media Group (SMG).


Apple Web Offset in Warrington is printing the tabloid-sized The Herald Magazine on its 64pp MAN Roland web, while Normanton-based Acorn Web Offset is producing The Sunday Herald Magazine A4 title on its 16pp MAN Roland Rotoman N.


The Herald Magazine is inserted into the Saturday edition of The Herald newspaper, and The Sunday Herald Magazine into the Sunday Herald.


The deal also involved SMG moving to PDF workflow with the titles for the first time.


"This is the sort of deal we had been looking for to promote the awareness of the group," said Trader Media Print Group sales director John Preston.


The print group, formed last year through the merger of Apple, Acorn and Bristol-based Wiltshire, won the contract on the back of Acorns production of other SMG titles, including weeklies Scottish Farmer and Boxing News.


Traders total deal with SMG over the next two-and-a-half years will be worth more than 7m, including paper spend.
"We were happy with the quality of work Acorn had been doing and were keen to get both magazines with one print group," said Karen Young, SMG Publishings operations director.


The Printworks in Staverton previously printed The Herald Magazine, with Polestar East Kilbride producing The Sunday Herald Magazine.


One of the first issues of The Herald Magazine printed at Apple took the Best Designed Newspaper Supplement of the Year Award at the Total Publishing Magazine Design Awards.


Story by Gordon Carson