British Petroleum is one of the new customers the 30-year-old company has picked up after installing the machine in December as part of ongoing improvements.

Digital Signs bought the hybrid UV-cured machine from CWE Solutions as a replacement for the company’s previous ColorSpan UV machine, which it had used for five years.

It enables the company to print on a much wider range of rigid and flexible substrates.

Display Signs director Alan Kelvey said the new machine enabled the firm to work at a higher quality and was also incredibly easy to use. "It can be run by the youngest, most inexperienced person in the factory," he added.

So far the company has put the printer through its paces on several arts projects, using flexible and rigid substrates including Dibond and Correx.

"Our customers’ requirements are getting more demanding and they have been impressed with the quality of the prints produced on the machine," Kelvey added. "This printer gives a tremendous finish."

Crucially the new printer uses a belt drive rather than the ColorSpan’s rollers, improving placement accuracy and, unlike with the old machine, the jobs come out dry, which is particularly useful for wallpaper jobs.

As well as wallpaper, Digital Signs produces signs, banners and composite sheeting for a variety of clients from independent traders right up to major companies.