The eight-staff Leominster company bought the press to replace a two-colour Ryobi machine so that it could be better equipped to meet a growing demand for short-run colour work.

"It brings us up to speed with what people are demanding," said director Dylan Barrington, who explained that a growing number of customers were using desktop design software to produce artwork for small print jobs.

According to Barrington, the company looked at other manufacturers but opted for the Sanxin machine from Printers Superstore because of its price and the lower cost of any potential repairs and replacement parts.

"The cost of the press was a big factor," he said. "For a small business like ourselves, that's what it comes down to.

"But we were impressed with the press itself. The build quality was much better than we thought. It's a very robust piece of machinery."

The Sanxin joins a four-colour Komori Lithrone at the business, which undertakes general commercial print work for a mainly local client base, although it does have clients as far afield as Romania and Denmark.