Steven Brown, director, Your Print Solution
"Financing our £350,000 HP Indigo investment proved to be an incredibly difficult period and one that nearly put a halt to the investment altogether. HSBC was the first to give us the go-ahead and then the others followed suit.

"We have a great business here, with strong books and a good track record. But people didn’t initially want to know. However, when HSBC agreed a deal, others came back stating that ‘the risk assessment has changed’. I’m not sure how that’s different now."

Neil Long, managing director, Longridge Print
"We bought a Canon imagePress 7000 three years ago and got a 0% interest rate on the back of the DPW show; I doubt we could get that now.

"It has been a great machine, but when it’s time to replace or upgrade it, I’ll have to look at what the market has to offer. Once we’re done, the resale value is likely to be minimal.

"We are putting through 70,000 clicks per month and we’re looking to increase that to 100,000. Time will tell if we can use that strong performance to influence the deal we can get."

Martin Lett Jnr, director, Marstan Press
"In previous years our reports and accounts had showed a loss, but when we turned that into profit, finance from the manufacturer proved to be a more attractive proposition.

"The problem with digital print equipment is the depreciation value. Once you’ve had them for a few years and used them day-in and day-out, they are difficult to sell on.

"Manufacturers are still tight on credit and some companies only view things in black and white rather than taking the wider view."