The press, which will be installed at the company's Congleton site in Cheshire, is part of a £250,000 investment that also includes a new digital die-cutting machine.

CLP, which already has an HP Indigo press, plans to use the narrow web Jetrion 4000 for anything from shorter run work of between 500 and 5,000 copies, to longer runs of up to 50,000 copies.

Managing director Nigel Painton said: "The main attraction [of the Jetrion] is the fact that it's a narrow web machine, unlike a lot of other digital presses, including our HP press, which means it's a lot more cost-effective on shorter runs.

"It's also quite quick, however, at 30m per minute, which means we would probably expect to use it on runs of up to 50,000 if we were finishing in-house on our semi-rotary finishing unit."

EFI designed the Jetrion, which combines its workflow, RIP, ink development and manufacturing technology, specifically for the label market.

Painton added that although the economic slowdown had made it a difficult time to invest, the new press would hopefully open up further markets for CLP.

He said: "The timing's not ideal, with talk of a recession, but we anticipate the investment will help us get into different markets. Rather than batten down the hatches, we're going to go out and try to win new business.

"We are particularly excited about producing outside decals, due to the high light fastness and durability of the UV inks. We also expect the new machine will be particularly good at producing window stickers, printed both one- and two-sided."