The East Sussex-based printer beat off heavyweight competition from fellow finalists ScottishPower and The Co-operative Bank to win the Business in the Environment award.

Beacon chairman Mark Fairbrass (pictured) received the firms award from Prince Charles.

Business in the Community chief executive Julia Cleverdon said: "The awards endorse companies who regard social responsibility as an essential part of their business.

"Beacon has now won 23 major national and international awards for its pioneering environmental management programme, which has made it one of the UKs greenest companies."

"Printing is a dirty business and our industry is a significant source of pollution," a Beacon spokesman told PrintWeek.

However, printers who have bought waterless presses are rare in the UK. Capital costs are high and many businesses remain sceptical about what business benefits, if any, there are to being more environmentally friendly.

"Although it costs a lot to invest in waterless printing, output is better quality and ultimately legislation is going to force everyone to do it," added the spokesman. "So its better to be ahead of the game."

In February, Hyway initiated a drive to set up a waterless printers alliance (PrintWeek, 15 February), although little has been heard since this endeavour.

Story by Paul Nesbitt