Middlesbrough vinyl plant to double capacity

A record-pressing plant on Teesside is to double production after a successful first year in business.

Press On Vinyl opened in Middlesbrough in early-2022 with the aim of producing 50,000 records a month.

Co-founder David Todd said the continued resurgence of vinyl records was due to factors including collectability for fans and profit margins for labels.

The firm has 28 full-time employees with plans to add to that number.

Mr Todd told BBC Radio Tees the company’s first year had been “lots of fun, lots of hard work” with the popularity of vinyl “bouncing back big time”.

“Streaming is such an important part of how people consume music these days – it’s fantastic, you’ve got every song you could want at your finger tips – but people like collecting things and having something tangible in their hands.

“They like flicking through their collection, picking a record, looking at the sleeve and listening to it from beginning to end in the order planned by the artist.

“From the artist and label point of view, it’s a really good way to generate revenue [compared to streaming]. That’s a key to why it’s come back, especially for grassroots artists and smaller indie labels.”

The plant has installed a further two machines as it looks to ramp up production in the coming months.

Mr Todd added: “We’ve really learned the process this last year.

“The quality is on par with anyone else and we’ll be employing more pressing operators and packing staff. These are skilled jobs and it’s great for the area.”

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