Newsquest gets £2m for print operation

A NEWSPAPER printing and distribution facility set up nine years ago in Bolton has been sold for £2m.

The 40,000 sq ft site on Wingates Industrial Park was used by newspaper group Newsquest to publish the Bolton News, Blackburn’s Lancashire Evening Telegraph, the Bury Times and 16 other titles.

At its launch Newsquest said it had spent £17m kitting out the facility with the latest technology that was capable of printing 60,000 newspapers an hour.

But it decided to close it down last year and use its other printing sites in a bid to save money.

The building, close to junction 6 of the M61, has been bought by M&A Pharmachem which plans to use it for pharmaceutical processes.

Julien Kenny-Levick of Colliers International’s Manchester office sold the building for Newsquest. He said: “This sale demonstrates that demand is returning for well located, quality freehold accommodation where owners work with purchasers in order to achieve a common goal.”