The print and design supplier was previously running an Heritage Systems Optima 2 but this did not have the facility to link up to the company’s online sales system, unlike the Tharstern Primo MIS.

It settled on the Tharstern after a six month search and bought direct from the company for £20,000. Installation is due to start on 1 April and it is planned the system will go live from 30 April.

Currently a production employee inputs the online orders manually which takes at least 10 hours every week.

Managing director Gavin Page said: "I chose Tharstern for its credibility in the industry and they came up with all the answers to the issues that we had. The speed is far quicker than the Heritage."

Page said that due to the website link he expected to achieve ROI in 12 months. Without it he predicted he would have needed to employ a new member of staff at around £18,000 per annum but existing employees will be freed up to process orders.

He added: "Practically all our new business comes from the web, I would say it’s 80 – 85%. We still attract about 60% of our total business the old-fashioned way."

The is a new direction for Page, whose previous litho print management company Gradelet Advertising and Marketing went into administration on 30 April 2012. Manchester Printers, which still works in litho but is increasingly using digital, was incorporated on 6 March 2012.

Gradelet attracted business entirely through sales people but Page said that business as well as consumer customers increasingly find a printer online. He added: "The grand plan is to completely switch over to online sales, it will take time but we have got to be prepared for it.

"A lot of business comes through relationships still but as more generations who have the facility to use online this will change. We find the majority of people search our site using mobile devices."