December 19, 2003 -- Cambridge Newspapers is planning to expand its newspaper contract printing activity backed by a highly successful pressroom investment in back to back colour facilities. The investment, the addition of two new four-high towers to the company’s Albert A510X press, is now providing 64pp of continuous colour in collect mode at a regular 50,000 copies per hour. The entire project, which began with delivery of the units at the end of March and first commercial copies off in August, was completed on time, well within the £4.5m budget and without any addition to pressroom production staff. Press production manager Alan Mee is full of praise for KBA UK’s installation service. He says: ”This is part of an ongoing programme of investment that will both improve the quality and service we provide our readers and advertisers, as well as to our contract print customers. This programme has also included investment in a sheetfed press and in stitching and trimming lines that also improve our versatility as a contract printer.” He continues: ”The installation of the new KBA towers went extremely smoothly from the first heavy lift to our press trials and operator training. The quality of colour we are getting from the new towers is outstanding.” Cambridge Newspapers’ printers were sent to KBA in Germany for training and the company is indebted to its friends at Newsquest, Glasgow, who hosted further training sessions. KBA UK maintains a permanent engineering presence on site at the Cambridge Newspapers plant supporting CN engineers in the maintenance of all printing equipment. The enhanced pressroom is running at just over 60% of its ultimate capacity and Cambridge Newspapers is determined to fill the balance during 2004. Investment in the department continues with the addition of automatic colour register and automatic blanket washing. Already the extended press has enabled the company to maintain its contract with Express Newspapers for the printing of The Daily Star, to bring the Cambridge Evening News Property supplement back in house and to develop and improve the same paper’s Drive supplement. Alan Mee believes his pressroom strategy will deliver the success his company demands and that further investment will be forthcoming to allow the anilox units to be phased out and two further new towers to be added. Cambridge Newspapers is a subsidiary of Iliffe News & Media, which in turn is a division of the Yattendon Investment Trust.