A sprawling, state-of-the art printing facility for Progress Press, printer of The Times and The Sunday Times, was inaugurated yesterday in Mrieħel, marking the company’s official move from its historic seat in Valletta.
The €30 million premises were inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at a ceremony attended by Archbishop Paul Cremona and Leader of the Opposition Joseph Muscat, along with clients, suppliers, shareholders and senior staff.
Progress Press, now part of the Allied Group, was originally set up as a printing press by Lord Strickland, who bought his first printing machines in 1921 and formally set up the press in 1922 to print his political newspapers.
Light years from the new 10,000 square-metre building, the first premises to host Progress Press, valued at £3,340, consisted of a large entrance, an office, three rooms where the printing machines were installed, a printers’ office, a store room and some other rooms.
The Mrieħel building was constructed a few years ago and has been modified to host cutting-edge printing technology that puts the press in a position to compete with leading European firms.
Progress Press does not just print newspapers but its ever growing product range varies from brochures, catalogues and manuals to magazines and books.
In his speech, Dr Gonzi said the company and its printed titles had shared with the Maltese people unique moments in the country’s history. “In Malta’s darkest hours you remained a beacon of hope for the Maltese even when bombs descended on our islands during the Second World War.”
However, he also referred to what he called the “soul searching” that journalism was going through the world over, particularly after the recent hacking scandal in the UK.
“It is becoming clear that the most modern technology together with a sound financial basis but without a strong ethical and professional ethos will inevitably produce media which wield a lot of power but which turn out to be abject failures as they do not shoulder the corresponding responsibility,” he said, calling for a renewed debate about self-regulation in journalism even in Malta.
“Throughout the years, Allied Group and Progress Press have helped to nurture through The Times of Malta and The Sunday Times the values of accuracy, fairness, truth telling, humaneness, thoroughness, hard work and independence, among many others. Such professional, ethical and socio-cultural values need to remain a cornerstone of their operation irrespective of the media being used and regardless of the temptations of sensationalism, audience ratings and personal ambitions,” he said.
Progress Press managing director Adrian Hillman said the inauguration of the building was the culmination of a process over the past years which had seen the Allied Group grow in different areas.
“We tend to forget that in the past five years the group has moved from being the leading newspaper into the largest publisher of magazines, providing the most influential and viewed website by far, providing digital content, as well as the largest printing press in the country,” he said.
Mr Hillman also spoke of the environmental credentials of the building, which boasts an environmentally friendly lighting and air-conditioning system, along with a water recycling system that reuses run-off water collected on the premises.
Allied Newspapers Ltd managing director Vince Buhagiar touched on the nostalgic undertones behind the decision to move the printing press from the building that had served the company for 80 long years – the company was originally set up in Republic Street (then known as Kingsway) before moving to St Paul Street.
“The place is full of history; newspapers had rolled off the press there for so many years, and so many people... have contributed their share to the Allied Group story,” he said. Neither the war – the building housing the press received two direct hits – nor political adversity of the worst kind had stopped the publishing of newspapers.
However, Mr Buhagiar stressed, the thirst for progress “goes on… and on”.