Ormside has invested nearly £1m in the new equipment, acquiring the secondhand five-colour machine for around £650,000 and the Agfa Avalon CTP with an upgrade to its Apogee pre-press workflow for around £170,000.

The Avalon processless CTP system replaces an older Agfa Galileo while the Heidelberg press has joined Ormside’s existing six-colour 102 Speedmaster and an HP Indigo 5500.

The investment, which was brokered by Print Finance and funded through Close Brothers Asset Finance, reflects changing client needs, according to managing director Frank Philand.

"Clients have been moving away from lamination on their brochures and catalogues for some time, as it is not environmentally friendly, and asking for coating instead," he explained.

"This press offers a high degree of automation and cost-effectiveness in what is really a very competitive market now. And digital integration into the print shop's workflow means that jobs can be processed efficiently within tough deadlines."

Philand said that the decision to invest "over £100,000" in a secondhand HP Indigo 5500 around 12 months ago was also a response to the market.

"We are adapting to clients changing needs for short-run work and we are winning work on that basis. What we're finding is that clients are coming to us with more work now because they know we can meet everything from really short-run jobs to much larger orders."

The £2.5m-turnover company employs 14 staff and Philand said that, although there would be no more investment this year, he expected to boost turnover to £3.5m and employ three or four new "key position" staff over the next two years.