Through the move, both companies have taken "an important step" in catering for the industry's growing demand for web-to-print.

The business, which will be rebranded in the coming weeks, will operate a manufacturing site at Borble's Rhyl facility while sales and marketing will take place from Label First's Ascot site in Berkshire.

Ownership of the company is split 50/50 between Labels First managing director Gary Lovell and Gavin Scott, the Borble co-founder.

The merger of the companies comes as Barry Griffiths, Borble's other co-founder, departs through retirement. He will retain an active role in the larger business.

Lovell said the enlarged company has many synergies that will enable it to cross-sell to each client base while improving the service offering it has for each.

"This merger will see many new commercial opportunities for the business, but our focus will always remain on customer service," he added.

Borble's Scott added that by merging with Labels First the Welsh digital printer had partnered with a "truly customer-focused label supplier".

"[We have] a significant total web presence backed by our excellent customer service, graphics and technical capacity, as the industry moves closer to a web-to-print service," he said.