The first UK newspaper group, The Midland News Association, publishers of two of the UK’s biggest selling regional evening newspapers, the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, has gone live using QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress server.

Production began in January on the Chronicle series and Shropshire Weekly Newspapers series using the new editorial system called Knowledge, which uses QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 8 server for pagination. The Kidderminster Chronicle was the first newspaper off the press, followed by the Telford Journal and Walsall Chronicle. Knowledge will be implemented across all 20 weekly titles in the group by the end of May. The next phase of the project will be to upgrade the daily newspapers, Express & Star and Shropshire Star to the new system.

The desire to remain with Quark was a key factor in the MNA’s decision to specify QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 8 server as the base for its preferred version of the smart and versatile Knowledge development. Said Adrian Faber, MNA Editorial Director, and Editor of the flagship Express & Star: “Our group’s titles are extremely popular across the West Midlands and Shropshire and we pride ourselves on our reputation for being innovative and cutting edge.

We have always been quick to embrace new technology and there has been so much positive opinion in the market surrounding QuarkXPress 8 that we were keen to upgrade and maintain QuarkXPress as a key part of our editorial workflow,” he added.

“We have also found that while users have been able to take advantage of the many new features within QuarkXPress 8, their very familiarity with QuarkXPress as a product on which many users have worked for years, has been a positive factor in easing the transition to Knowledge.” continues Adrian.

Press Computer Systems Ltd is a leading systems supplier to the UK publishing industry with a comprehensive suite of proven integrated systems specifically designed to maximise the potential efficiency and profitability of information publishing. PCS has developed a leading-edge editorial workflow system, Knowledge which integrates seamlessly with QuarkXPress.

Philip Walker, Managing Director of PCS, said: “Knowledge is a system built from the ground up to integrate some very smart technologies, many of them very new to the newspaper industry and will offer new ways of working as well as the way PCS will market the solution. PCS has worked closely with Quark for many years delivering to the industry innovative and cost effective solutions. That close working relationship has meant we have been able to rapidly integrate QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 8 Server within the overall Knowledge package.

“By maintaining a position at the cutting edge of technology, we are committed to developing systems that help our customers to continue to push their business forward both in terms of revenue and technology.”

Matthew Wallis, Quark senior vice president of sales Europe and Africa, said: “Quark’s dynamic publishing technology can bring significant productivity benefits to the newspaper sector, by streamlining the workflow and automating business processes to gain greater efficiency. We are thrilled that PCS, who have been at the forefront of the UK newspaper computer revolution, are leveraging the creative power of QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 in Knowledge to deliver dynamic publishing systems to their customers.”

23 Mar 2009

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