Under the agreement the company, which has 34 full-time and six part-time staff, will also be providing print for Gloucester City Council, which has teamed up with the county council for the delivery of its print requirements after closing its in-house print room.

The contract win comes after the firm, which is also based in Gloucester, invested in a new Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75-4+L at Drupa, due to arrive in October, and placed an order for a Suprasetter A75 computer-to-plate (CtP) device to replace a ten-year old Topsetter.

The new Suprasetter will give the company increased output of 22 rather than 17 plates per hour and will be covered by a new service contract.

Managing director Jeff Williams said: "Our Topsetter had come to the end of its life and the speed and image quality was better on the Suprasetter.

"We will also be able to order consumables via Heidelberg’s online shop and benefit from a small rebate under its new loyalty bonus scheme."

Under the contract with the councils the firm will provide fast turnaround digital print services onsite at the county council’s in-house print facility, where one full-time member of staff from Alpha Colour Printers is permanently based, while it will produce litho print from its own facility.

Alpha Colour Printers, which is forecasting a 6% increase in turnover this year, has taken on an additional three staff recently, including two in its finishing department and one to operate its printing presses.