Managing director Allan Ashman said the Pred8tor, which was first launched at this year's Fespa Digital show, was available now but that a new 2x3m model would be available from September.

The current 1.22x2.44m model has had a number of installs in Europe so far but has yet to find a place in the UK. Ashman said he had spoken to the current Gandy install base of around 25 customers of whom "a number were interested in the new Pred8tor".

He said he would offer these customers trade-in deals for their Gandy machines - essentially going after an Agfa market. Agfa bought Gandinnovations early last year after it went into bankruptcy protection, but entrepreneur James Gandy has since founded Gandy Digital, of which the Pred8tor is the first product. However, Ashman said he wasn't interested in offering service deals to those Agfa customers keeping the original machines.

One of the innovations of the Pred8tor UV flatbed machine is the use of an iPad application, which offers users a simple drag-and-drop workflow interface as well as live diagnostics, video tutorials and consumables tracking.

Ashman said the system was open and not tied to buying consumables or services from Atech.

Gandy Digital marketing director Natalie Gandy said the manufacturer had chosen Atech as "the only reseller in the UK that could actually supply our machine to the standards we expect", citing the company's full suite of finishing equipment for the grand-format market.

The Pred8tor prints at 900dpi, can print a full sheet of rigid material in less than 90 seconds, and has inline white or clear ink options. It is available at a list price of €360,000 (£325,000), with a roll-to-roll option bringing the price to €420,000.