The six-colour machine with coater, Heidelberg's largest to date, will be delivered to the company's Frome facility in January 2011.

Kevin Sarney, managing director of Butler Tanner & Dennis, said the machine reinforced the group's strategy of meeting market demands, specifically the growing requirement for high quality, short-run books.

He said: "Supply chain cost is also becoming increasingly important. The XL 162's performance, particularly the makeready time, was a significant factor in our decision to invest. Its ability to coat will also provide advantages in our bindery.

"This investment is another step to improving efficiency going forward, a key focus for the company. We can once again push the boundary in large format printing".

The press investment continues an expansion programme that has involved the book printer revamping its press and bindery production facilities in recent months.

In October, the company took delivery of a short-run finishing system from Kolbus to support growing client interest in on-demand books.

And last month, the £15m-turnover business printed the first book celebrating next year's royal wedding, producing 100,000 copies.

Commenting on the new Heidelberg press, Jim Todd, sales director of Heidelberg, said: "It is fantastic that a company that has put UK-produced colour books back on track should be the first customer for our VLF Speedmaster range in the UK.

"Butler Tanner & Dennis undertook extensive trials before committing to this press which confirmed that they will benefit from the extraordinary productivity of the XL 162 and that their customers will be impressed by the quality and speed of delivery it makes possible."