The continuous laser mono printers are a like-for-like replacement of the company’s previous laser printers, which had come to the end of their five-year life cycle.

The £15m-turnover 4DM Group, which is based in Kettering, has been working with Océ for more than 15 years. It will pay Océ a monthly charge plus an additional click charge for use of the printers. 

4DM Group sales and marketing director Lance Hill said that the company had researched many other manufacturers before renewing its deal with Océ.

Hill said: "The market is a lot more competitive at the moment and we had a lot of interest from other manufacturers, but ultimately we struck a good deal with Océ. The key for our business is the service on the support side; it’s absolutely critical and the key to maintaining continuity."

4DM's technical director, Les Ritchie added that the company is looking at moving into colour printing.

He said: "The DM market and the technology has moved on considerably in the last five years and we are still one of the UK's highest-volume users of mono colour lasers. We also needed to factor in the transition over to colour continuous which will be a case of when rather than if."