£10m Investment At Polestar Chantry's Bindery

£10 million of Polestar's True North investment programme has been allocated to the development of a new finishing and mailing facility at Polestar Chantry in Wakefield (UK).

£10 million of Polestar's True North investment programme has been allocated to the development of a new finishing and mailing facility at Polestar Chantry in Wakefield (UK), bringing stitching facilities into the company's portfolio for the first time.

The first phase of the development, which includes occupation of a new 52,000 square foot unit adjacent to the printing operation, will see the installation in October of two new Sitma 950 mailing lines and a new Muller Martini Corona perfect binder.

By June 2005, they will have been joined by a further three Muller Martini perfect binders and one Sitma 570 mailing line, currently in operation at the company's existing bindery in Leeds.

They will be housed in a new 110,000 square foot unit, construction of which will start next month for completion in March.

Andy Pickett, managing director of Polestar Chantry, said: "This investment is primarily designed to improve on our existing facilities and at the same time, increase the capacity and range of services we can offer to customers, from under one roof.

By maintaining some of the existing lines in Leeds, whilst the development progresses at Wakefield, we can ensure continuous operations with minimum disruption.

When complete, the new bindery will be one of the most comprehensive facilities in the UK." With a 32-page Rotoman press currently being transferred from Polestar East Kilbride, the company will benefit from the increased capacity provided by the finishing technology.

An additional 20 million copies per year will be generated by the new Corona perfect binding line and the company said it is confident that the line will be able to handle its diverse product mix, which includes multiple sachets, magna strips and gatefolds.

Additional capacity will also be created by the new Sitma lines, which are equipped with demographic capability and camera reading.

In December 2003, Polestar announced the ?100 million 'True North' investment programme that would see the development of a new greenfield gravure printing operation, a wholesale re-equipping of the group's binderies and the continued development of its e-commerce technology.

To date, the Group has ordered over £30 million of bindery equipment and its new factory in Sheffield is on schedule for completion in December.

Its 'open vision' online facility for customers is also being rolled out.

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