BGP has announced that it is to print the official Diamond Jubilee Programme, which will commemorate Her Majesty the Queen’s 60 year reign.

This is the Official Souvenir Programme of Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Produced by Publications UK, with the cooperation of the Royal Household, it contains Messages from The Queen and The Prince of Wales. With 115 images, including some from the Royal Collection, and 80 pages of text, it narrates the story of the life and reign of Her Majesty, and also contains a guide to Jubilee events.

The decision to award the highly prestigious print contract was made by contract publishing and events company, Publications UK Ltd, a long-standing customer of the BGP Group, and a company who specialise in the creation and delivery of high-quality content across a range of platforms, including print, exhibitions and conference events and online. Publications UK has also published a number of other royal publications within its print portfolio.

The printing of the Official Diamond Jubilee Programme will be spread across the BGP Group, with the covers being produced at bgp’s sister company Stones the Printers sheetfed operation in Banbury, whilst production of the main body pages of the publication will be handled by BGP at its Bicester plant.

Commenting on the high profile contract win, BGP chief executive David Holland said, “As a leading producer of catalogues and printed brochures we are honoured to have been selected to produce this prestigious commemorative publication, and see it as a great privilege and endorsement for our business.”

He continued, “The fact that we are producing the publication at both of our production plants demonstrates our flexibility as a print operation, and the endorsement by Publications UK indicates we are a trusted supplier to their company.”

Stewart Lee, Managing Director of Publications UK said, “I am delighted that this publication is being printed within a group of which we have been a client of for more than 11 years.

Lee added, “I also wish to make special mention of the outstanding service provided by Steve Bedford (Business Development Manager at Stones), who has been extremely helpful to us during this exciting time in our history. We are very much looking forward to seeing the finished product.”

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952 and was crowned on 2 June 1953.

This year huge celebrations will take place to mark the occasion across the UK, with a central weekend of celebration taking place from 2 to 5 June 2012, which will include a pageant on the River Thames, a Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace organised by the BBC, and culminating in a day of celebrations in Central London.