A new compact KBA press – the first of four for Express Newspapers – has fired up to print UK tabloid the ‘Daily Star’.

Owner Richard Desmond fired up the Commander CT at a new plant in Luton, 40 miles north of the London Docklands print site where the group’s titles have been produced for more than 24 years.

Three more presses are the be installed, with the last to be commissioned in March next year, to print the ‘Daily Star Sunday’, ‘Daily Express’ and ‘Sunday Express’.

Desmond – who is making a £100 million ($156 million) investment in print at a time when circulations of printed newspapers in industrialised countries are declining – says his newspapers haven’t declined over the last 11 years.

“The ‘Daily Star’ was selling 400,000 when we bought it, and now sells around 800,000,” he says. “Eleven years ago there wasn’t a ‘Daily Star Sunday’ and it now sells more than 800,000 every Sunday. The ‘Daily Express’ and ‘Sunday Express’ are in line with the market.

“Through these investments our print interest is now firmly in line with the rest of the Northern and Shell group as a major modern competitor in UK media business and we demonstrate our belief in the future of print for the next 25 years and beyond.”

When the four presses are up and running they will be able to print a million full-colour newspapers in three hours. West Ferry and Broughton Printers chief executive David Broadhurst is keen to take on contract work, and is mulling the addition of dryers, which would enable the plant to print heatset and coldset, and therefore bring magazine production in-house.

“We’ve got the capacity for contract work. If we opt to take the dryers that will happen in phase two. It is something we have considered but we must make sure it is worthwhile doing it.”

The four highly-automated presses with a total of 22 reelstands, 22 four-high towers and four KF 7 folders will be installed in two parallel lines and embedded in an automated reel-logistics system. They have a maximum rated output of 90,000cph, a 578mm cut-off on a cylinder circumference of 1156mm and a maximum web width of 1460mm. Control is via KBA ErgoTronic consoles with EAE’s Print job-scheduling and press presetting software.

The £100m investment package includes new Ferag mailroom kit and an upgrade at Broughton Printers in Preston, with confirmation of the successful vendor expected early next year.

Pictured: Something to smile about: KBA UK director of web press sales Roger Nicholls, Baldwin UK sales and service director John Leek, KBA sales manager Winfried Schenker, West Ferry Printers operations and project manager Mick Crawley and KBA sales director Jochen Schwab at the Commander CT start-up

On our home page: Desmond firing up the press line with (left) West Ferry and Broughton Printers chief executive David Broadhurst and Northern & Shell group joint managing director Martin Ellice