Newsprinters secures Metro contract

The contract comprises a run of 800,000 weekday copies of the national commuter newspaper. They will continue to be printed at Newsprinters’ Broxbourne site.

Unite national officer Steve Sibbald said at the time of Newsfax’s September 2012 demise that the union would fight to transfer its 60 union members in Rainham to Broxbourne under TUPE regulations should the contract be taken up by Newsprinters.

In light of Newsprinters being permanently awarded the contract, Sibbald said: "It will be happening but the legal process will take some time, so it will be several months before we know the outcome."

However, Newsprinters managing director Brian McGee said the company had "absorbed" production of the DMGT title into its current capacity and was not looking to recruit any further staff. He added that he was not aware of any ex-Newsfax staff being transferred to Newsprinters.

Due to confidentiality agreements, McGee declined to comment on whether Newsprinters had to bid for the contract.

He said: "We look forward to providing an excellent service to this prestigious title in the years ahead.

"It’s a sizeable contract, one of the biggest in the country, and we will go out there now looking for the next big opportunity."

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