Two months ago the site was a sea of mud. The foundations are now in place and the first steels were erected today (15 April).

With work taking place against a backdrop of sun and blue sky, chief operating officer Peter Andreou tweeted: “What a fantastic day for the first steels to go up!”

Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert told PrintWeek: “It is all on track – construction from here is very fast.  Should be completed mid-June in terms of weatherproofing, just in time for the first arrival of the new kit, give or take a few days.”

The press foundations will be put in place after the steel has been erected. 

The dimensions of the new facility have not been disclosed, but Polestar’s original planning application to extend its Sheffield gravure site involved a potential expansion of more than 20,000sqm. 

Polestar has signed a deal with Goss for six new web offset presses, with two 96pp Sunday 5000 presses set to be installed first. The first of these presses has left the Goss International manufacturing facility in New Hampshire and is in the process of being shipped to the UK.

The £239m turnover print group is also gearing up to take on a large amount of extra web offset work when the IPC Media titles currently produced by Wyndeham transfer to Polestar in July.