NZME transfers printing out of Hawke’s Bay

Publisher NZME will stop printing newspapers in Hawke’s Bay and will transfer their production to Auckland in a move that will affect about 20 jobs at contractor Beacon Print, the printing contractor says.

Beacon Print chief executive Aaron Bruist confirmed NZME was terminating an agreement under which Beacon prints NZME newspapers including Hawke’s Bay Today in Hastings.

NZME had decided to take the work back in-house and print the newspapers at its Ellerslie presses in Auckland, he said.

Publishers including NZME and rival Stuff Ltd, publisher of Stuff, have been rationalising their print operations in response to declining newspaper advertising revenues.

NZME’s decision to stop printing its Hawke’s Bay newspapers locally was a sign of the times, Bruist agreed. ‘‘It has been a very successful arrangement. Just the reality is that arrangement has reached its logical conclusion.’’

NZME chief operations officer Matthew Wilson would not comment on how the change might affect its print deadlines or what contingencies it had for the road between Taupo and Hawke’s Bay being closed in bad weather.

But he said there would be no impact on newspaper delivery times. ‘‘We have been sending papers to Hawke’s Bay and Wellington that are printed in Auckland for many years and have a very high track record on delivery,’’ he said.

An investment in new technology had effectively increased the capacity of its Ellerslie printing plant, he said.

It is understood the change could affect about 20 full- and part-time jobs at Beacon, which also operates a printing plant in Whakatane.

Bruist confirmed the Hastings plant employed about that number and would close, but said there would be a chance for some staff to relocate to Whakatane, where Beacon prints community newspapers.

The lease on Beacon’s Hastings printing plant on Wilson Rd has been put out for negotiation by real estate agency Bayleys.