Rupert Murdoch unveils Scottish print operation

Rupert Murdoch today opened the Eurocentral printing plant in Scotland - declaring it the largest and fastest in the world.

The chairman and chief executive of News Corporation unveiled the first stage of UK subsidiary News International's £650m printing press modernisation programme, accompanied by Alex Salmond, first minister of Scotland.

News International's new high-speed, full colour presses will publish the Scottish editions of its four national titles the Sun, the Times, the News of the World and the Sunday Times.

"We are unveiling the largest and fastest print press in the world," Mr Murdoch said.

"This new plant can produce 86,000 copies an hour of a full colour newspaper up to 144 pages in size," he added.

"That is three times the speed of our old presses and provides readers and advertisers with greatly improved quality.

"These new presses will greatly add to the choice we are offering our audience.

"They are already giving readers and advertisers high-quality colour and greatly improved print values on newspapers that can reach the furthest corner of Scotland with late night news and sports."

The Eurocentral plant near Glasgow is the first stage in a £650m investment in new print facilities across the UK by Mr Murdoch's News International company that will allow all the newspapers to print in full colour.

News International has signed a long-term contract to print the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and the Glasgow Solicitors Property Centres Property Guide at Eurocentral.

The company's other new press, in Broxbourne in north London, will come fully online early next year while the plant at Knowsley, near Liverpool, is already online.

Earlier this year, News International cut about 100 London-based editorial staff jobs in a redundancy programme, following its printing investment and a fall in profits.

At today's launch, Mr Salmond pointed out that next year was the 500th anniversary of Androw Myllar and Walter Chepman printing Scotland's first book.

"Scotland was also among the first countries to have a newspaper in regular print. So it's no surprise that newspapers have played such an important role in Scottish society since they first appeared, shaping opinion, stimulating debate and keeping Scots up to date with what's going on around them," Mr Salmond said.

"This new state of the art printing plant sends out a clear message that one of the world's largest media companies has absolute conviction in the future of print journalism - and in Scotland as a fantastic place in which to do business."

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