The Derbyshire-based company will replace one new press every year from 2012 to 2018 in a move that will allow it to compete at the lower end of the web market.

Managing director Kirk Galloway said Buxton would put "substantial deposits" down to get the best financial terms and avoid burdening the company with debt.

He added that the sheetfed magazine printer was targeting increased market share with the press overhaul, which will increase efficiency and productivity at the firm.

"If you don’t keep on top of the technology wave you will fall behind and you won’t be able to maintain the competitive pricing that is out there," said Galloway.

"The market is going to get tougher; a lot of companies may not be around in four years’ time and I think publishers are now looking for security as much as they are price."

Galloway added that the company had no plans to expand its current site, as the added efficiency of the latest generation of print equipment would allow greater throughput for the same floorspace.

He highlighted the improvements in folding equipment, which have made huge leaps in productivity in the past few years.
"There’s been a substantial improvement in finishing really since Ipex," he said. "I think people have realised you can’t be bashing out print at one end if you’re just creating a bottleneck elsewhere."

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