The Ellesmere Port-based company has bought a Ricoh Pro C720S colour digital press, PlanetPress variable data suite and a Pro 1357EX mono machine.

Financial director David Bingle, who was on Ricoh’s stand (A200) yesterday to finalise the deal, said the firm had had digital capabilities for a while, but its Ricoh spend would enable it get into variable data printing.

Bingle said: "We looked at doing this five years ago, but weren’t able to. We had the know-how, but weren’t quite ready. With this investment we are today where we wanted to be."

As well as offering direct mail services, DDL also specialises in data cleaning and sorting, as well as commercial print. Bingle added: "Our strength has always been in data; we can help the client choose the best approach, but we haven’t been able to put that into print. We believe we now have everything we need to get the print reaching its full potential."

As well as offering standard support Ricoh will also be training DDL’s sales staff on what to advise with regards the media used with the machine as well as what the set-up can offer DDL’s customers.

The DDL deal was the first of two signed on the Ricoh stand yesterday, with Cardiff-based Horizon Digital coming to Harrogate to sign for a Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition.

Managing director Kevin Ogden said the £7.2m-turnover firm’s deal was driven by a growing demand for personalised data from its customers, which led it to replace an existing Xerox digital press.