St Ives runs HP Indigo 3500 and WS3200 presses at its Leeds direct mail facility and, according to lead printer Ian Casey, lamination was proving problematic when finishing the high level of direct mail items downloaded from the Mailshots Online service.

He said: "Laminating does provide a nice finish to the printed sheet, however it is not particularly practical for this type of contract.

"There are also quality issues with laminating which can be susceptible to peeling when being passed through what is today a highly automated and mechanised mailing infrastructure within the Royal Mail."

According to Casey, the company opted for the Duplo Ultra 205A flood UV coating machine as it could provide a range of gloss, matt and satin finishes on both digital and offset stock.

He added: "We preferred the offline coating route, as it meant that we were able to feed print from our two HP Indigo’s into one machine.

"So we looked at the offline coaters available on the market, and we felt that the speed combined with high quality output of the Duplo were far superior than the alternatives, and achieved the high standards required of clients such as Royal Mail."