Profile

These are changing times for Trinity Mirror. Facing a decline in newspaper circulations and battling against a falling share price, the printer and publisher is being forced to adapt to the new world order of news publishing. The company is currently in the midst of an across-the-board restructuring programme, with its print division experiencing a radical overhaul. However, its early adoption of full colour as well as other innovations and its move into contract printing suggest that it is evolving to meet the challenges facing the industry.

According to PrintWeek’s Top 500, Trinity Mirror Printing (Watford), its largest plant by turnover, was the 27th largest printer in the UK. However, the Watford site is the tip of the iceberg for the publishing giant – across its six largest sites, it achieved sales of £127m. In its print divisions, Trinity employs 1,600 staff and prints more than 300 newspapers, regional, national and otherwise.

The company has nine sites spread across the UK, although the closure of Liverpool by the end of next year will leave it with eight, spread across Birmingham, Blantrye, Cardonald Cardiff, Newcastle, Oldham, Teeside and Watford. With Liverpool closing, it has announced a further £7.5m investment at the Oldham site, which will take on the printing of Liverpool’s local newspapers including the Liverpool Echo. Over the past five years, more than £200m has been spent on presses and upgrades.

The group currently prints a portfolio of 170 regional newspapers, on top of the national titles that it is best known for including the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, The People, Daily Record and Sunday Mail. But, an increasingly dominant part of its order book consists of other publishers’ titles, of which it currently prints 160. It already prints national newspaper The Independent, and investment in new presses to meet its requirements is almost complete. Now, it is looking to add much smaller titles to its presses.

Perfectly placed
According to Rupert Middleton, group director of manufacturing, Trinity’s collection of printing sites means it is perfectly placed to offer its services as a contract printer. He says: There is widespread consolidation in the market. The industry is under a lot of pressure and publishers are looking at contract printing and we are well placed to offer those services. We have invested heavily in full colour and have a national network of sites, all of which are attached to major distribution hubs.

Middleton adds that the peak times for newspaper printing, overnight and during the day early in the week, are already subject to tight time schedules. But Trinity is looking to fill in the other time slots with less conventional titles.

There are a large number of publications not currently handled by newspaper publishers, he explains. Council and student newspapers would be one area, these are less time-sensitive so they can be quite easily fitted into a schedule. I think non-publishers are going to be a big market.

Middleton joined Trinity in March 2004. Prior to joining the company he was managing director at Westferry Printers, until recently owners of the country’s largest print facility. As the UK newspaper printing industry moves to a contract print model, there will inevitably be a small number of dominant players in the market, and Middleton has a few aces up his sleeve as he faces this particular challenge, and his industry experience will stand him in good stead.

One of the things Trinity will be offering is newscerts, a newspaper insert service with which it will be hoping to attract retail advertisers. The inserts are produced cold-set rather than heat-set, cutting down the lead time. Middleton says: We can produce a huge hit across the country and the lead time is much shorter. We can produce an insert listing special offers for a supermarket, but because it is on cold-set presses there is a much shorter turnaround, we are talking a three-day lead time rather than nine-day. The supermarket can therefore include much more up-to-date offers. We can also distribute regional offers. It will have a dramatic effect on time-sensitive sales.

Under Middleton, Trinity’s printing arm is certainly adapting to the changing face of the newspaper industry, but for the organisation as a whole, the major challenge ahead is ensuring that as the demand for newspaper decreases there is something to plug the hole. Contracting printing is rapidly emerging as that plug and the future of the newsprint industry as a whole, and Trinity is positioning itself to evolve with these changing times.

TRINITY MIRROR
Year formed 1999
Turnover £1.1bn in 2007
Print sites eight (as of end of 2009)
Print staff 1,600