Walstead adds Telegraph weekend work to roster

Walstead's first issue will hit newsstands on Saturday 21 May
Walstead's first issue will hit newsstands on Saturday 21 May

Walstead Group has sealed a deal to print the Telegraph’s weekend supplements with production set to switch later this month.

The deal with the Telegraph Media Group is for the The Saturday Telegraph magazine and the Luxury supplement, published quarterly. 

TMG stopped publishing the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine earlier this year after a revamp of its weekend package. 

Walstead said that it won the “long-term deal” following an RFP (request for proposal) process. 

The titles were previously printed gravure at Prinovis in Liverpool. 

Walstead will print the titles at its Walstead Bicester site and its first issue will be Saturday 21 May. The firm said it had established key workstreams to ensure a smooth transition. 

Walstead Group CEO Paul Utting commented: “We are delighted to welcome TMG as a new, blue-chip customer. 

“This contract further endorses our market-leading position for high-volume publications and adds to the growing number of newspaper supplements already won this year.”

TMG director of operations Richard Pickard said the new partnership would support the media group in “ensuring we deliver the highest quality print products to our loyal readers across the country.”

TMG does not publish ABC circulation data anymore but the Saturday magazine print run is understood to be around 450,000.

Prinovis commercial director – retail & magazines Mark Pfeiffer told Printweek the firm was sorry to lose a long-standing client. 

He commented: “Of course our team are sad to lose this title after six years of delivering a great looking product on time every week. We wish The Telegraph team every success in the future.  

“On a more positive note we are happy to share that we are in the latter stages of discussion regarding significant weekly volume and have recently won the launch catalogue for a major US retailer, as well as the securing the Boots Christmas Gift Guide which in recent years has been manufactured in web offset.”

He also said the Prinovis operations team had been doing “some great work using our gravure presses to print on a range of heatset papers”. 

“This has helped deliver some great looking brochures at short notice following the collapse of the YM Group web offset sites.”