Trinity Mirror to stop printing in Newcastle

Trinity Mirror plans to close its Newcastle printing plant putting 49 jobs under threat.

The city centre facility on the ground floor of the offices of the group’s regional daily newspapers, The Journal and Evening Chronicle, is also used to produce regional print runs of the Daily Mirror and the Metro.

In the past it has also held Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday contracts. 

The presses could be halted by the end of the year.

A Trinity Mirror spokeswoman said: “We have begun consultation on the proposed closure of the Trinity Mirror Newcastle print press site.

"This is a result of changes in the wider environment for printed newspapers and the limitations of the site at Newcastle with old presses and a city centre building with limited access.

“It is not reflective of the efforts, skills and dedication of the workforce in Newcastle.”

She added that the company would explore options for relocation for the workforce.

The site’s work will mostly move to Trinity Mirror’s Teeside plant, where the Chronicle and Journal have been printed in the past.

The spokeswoman added that Trinity Mirror Printing operates a network of print sites and that work is already directed to other sites to maximise efficiency. The company also has facilities in Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Oldham and Watford.

Trinity Mirror Printing Watford won Newspaper Printer of the Year in the PrintWeek Awards last month.  

The company closed its Blantyre print operation near Glasgow in June and in August said it had no immediate plans to shut more print sites, after doubling its cost reduction target for this year from £10m to £20m.

Closure of the Blantyre operation cost the company £1.4m including a £1m writedown in the value of fixed assets.

Overall sales were down in the group’s interim results, for the six months to 28 June, by 11% to £288.5m. Operating profits fell to £19.6m from £60m once restructuring charges and other costs were taken into account.

Pre-tax profits were £12.1m (2014: £50.5m) on a statutory basis, or £47m (2014: £48.2m) on an adjusted basis excluding one-off items, restructuring charges, pension charges and other write-offs.  

According to Trinity Mirror Printing it is the largest third party contract printer in the UK.