The eight-unit press joins an arsenal of Heidelberg equipment, totalling 58 printing units and including two 10-colour XL 75 and SM74 machines installed less than a year ago.

The SM 74 will be put to work on the company's shorter-run jobs. The £17m-turnover company's average order is £910 and it handles 16,000 jobs from 2,000 customers each year.

Managing director Gareth Roberts said: "We love both the XL 75 and the SM 74 and each has its place in our factory. The XL 75 gives us four days' additional capacity a month and the ability to handle a very broad range of stocks but for much of our standard short-run commercial work, the SM 74 is a great machine. We have experience of outputting 45m impressions a year on this model."

He described the machine as "a real workhorse that benefited from recent enhancements such a redesigned feeder, and dampening and delivery technology.

Bishops produces work for customers in the leisure, tourism, education, periodicals and general commercial markets from its 8,000sqm premises and operates a 24/7 shift pattern.