The business in Devon is to replace a four-year-old Konica Minolta 6501 with the new digital machine, said Ross Bellotti, who runs the 30-year old company with his wife, Sarita.

“We dipped our toe in the digital waters with the KM but now want to push digital to the next level and close the gap with litho," said Ballotti who also runs a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL75 at the Totnes factory.

Kingfisher Print & Design, which employs around 36 staff and turns over £3.5m annually, spent around £160,000 on the reconditioned machine. It can produce up to 3,000 A3 sheets per hour.

“But we want to use it for a larger sheet size, 356mm x 660mm, which was one of the main reasons for buying it, as well as flexibility for paper weights up to 400gsm," Belloti said. "I want to nail a certain market.”

Bellotti said his company specialised in high-quality, short-run work for clients including estate agents, and was also working with W2P software developer ROI360 on a new in-house web-to-print offering.

“Cross media is the way things are going; the need to offer customers something over and above print, and the digital kit is the perfect link for that.

“Web-to-print is not just for ordering comp slips and letter heads but can help can be used to help customers' marketing and other broader areas," Belotti said.