Stephens & George extends Haymarket printing contract

The initial three-year, £4m deal was secured at the end of 2010, however, Haymarket, publisher of PrintWeek, extended the contract early to "secure stability".

"We’ve been delighted with the service and production excellence offered by S&G," said Haymarket head of production Gary Charlton.

"Equally it’s important for us to guarantee stability of supply and price structure, for both us and our print partners, and this extension is a sign of good faith as reward for the work S&G has done for us over the past two years."

The contract encompasses PrintWeek and another 12 titles as well as a number of supplements and specials for Haymarket’s broader portfolio of B2B, customer and consumer brands on an ad-hoc basis.

"We’re absolutely delighted," said S&G managing director Andrew Jones. "It gives stability and helps us to ensure we can continue to invest in Merthyr Tydfil. Our working relationship with Haymarket continues to grow to the benefit of both parties."

As part of the initial deal, as well as printing Haymarket’s sheetfed titles the Welsh magazine printer secured preferred supplier status for ad-hoc work, which this year included the production of the official programmes for the Olympic and Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies as well as the Olympic sailing programmes.

The contract rounds off a hectic year for S&G, which installed two Drupa-launched Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106s, an eight-colour in May and five-colour plus coater cover press that completed commissioning this month (1 October). The 220-staff, fourth-generation family-owned business also celebrated its centenary with the launch of a charitable trust earlier this year.

Separately, Wyndeham and Polestar remain Haymarket’s primary web suppliers.