Midlands-based PCS has been nominated with the Midland News Association for the implementation of its digital content management and publishing system, Knowledge, which has been successfully rolled out to the MNA’s regional evening newspapers, the Express & Star and Shropshire Star and their associated weekly titles over the last 12 months or so.
The Knowledge implementation is one of 10 nominations for Business Project of the Year, alongside entries from major organisations such as telecoms giant BT, the Post Office, car-makers Volkswagen, hotel and restaurant chain Whitbread and pharmaceuticals multinational Pfizer.
Projects will be presented to the competition judges on Friday, October 1 at the Madjeski Stadium in Reading and the winners will be announced at the awards evening in London on Thursday, November 11.
PCS managing director, Phil Walker (pictured), said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be nominated alongside the MNA for this award and even being in the same company as some of the finalists makes me think we’re punching way above our weight when you look at the resources they have behind them.
“In the beginning we listened very hard to what the MNA wanted to achieve and we’ve worked closely with them to build from the ground up a new digital publishing system in a relatively short timeframe. Knowledge not only helps secure their core print business, but opens up opportunities in digital media that wouldn’t have been possible before.”
Adrian Faber, editor of the Express & Star, the UK’s biggest-selling evening newspaper, said: “We knew around three years ago that to maintain our competitive advantage, we needed to replace what was essentially a print-centred ‘editorial system’ with something that allowed us to do what we did more efficiently and give us seamless access to the potential of what at that time was the web and mobile, but has since become smart phones and things like the iPad, too.
“Knowledge has been a partnership of ideas, allying PCS’s technical innovation to our huge experience in what it takes to run a complex multi-edition publishing operation that continues to defy trends by producing high quality, genuinely local, same-day print products. And now we have the opportunity to so much more with our content digitally.
“What’s more, we’ve been able to do that relatively quickly and with minimum disruption to production. We’ve also managed to make some efficiencies in the way we work and we expect there are more to come.”
About Knowledge
PCS says: “Knowledge is PCS’s new digital content management and publishing system, designed in the 21st century to fulfil the requirements of 21st century publishers.
At its heart is the concept of concurrent multi-publishing – which makes digital content independent of publishing channels, allowing publishers to serve content to many different end users through print, internet, mobile and tablet in the most appropriate format as part of the production process, not as a repurposing afterthought.
Largely browser-based, Knowledge is explicitly geographically independent, built to encourage remote working which is at the same time collaborative in real-time."
About PCS
PCS says: “Press Computer Systems Ltd is part of the Claverley group of companies, a British media and publishing group, which includes the Wolverhampton Express & Star, the Shropshire Star, Precision Colour Printing, and the Guiton Group (Jersey Evening Post, Guernsey Press, Itex Group). While enjoying the backing of a major publishing group, PCS operates as a totally independent company, fully respecting the confidential nature of its relationship with each customer.
The company was formed in 1973 and today PCS 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. By maintaining a position at the cutting edge of technology PCS is committed to developing systems that help customers to push their business forward both in terms of revenue and technology.”
About the MNA
The MNA says: “The Midland News Association Ltd. is still heavily influenced by its founders, the Graham family, and is the UK’s largest independent newspaper publisher. Express & Star was founded in 1874 and currently boasts the largest regional six day week evening sale outside London. Shropshire Star was launched in 1964 and has become one of the country’s most successful newspapers.
Continual investment enabling editorial excellence, marketing innovation and production second to none has kept the group at the forefront of the publishing industry. The MNA is evolving into a total media provider, with numerous channels to market, and a major focus is the ability to highlight to advertisers the entire MNA portfolio and how the audience interacts with and between these different media channels.”
