The 5m machine was bought for its ability to print on non-PVC substrates and will take two weeks to install, with the installation team using lasers to achieve correct levels and alignment before it comes online 10 January.

The device adds to the 22-staff company's arsenal of EFI machines that includes a nine-year-old 3.2m Vutek solvent machine, a more recent 5m solvent machine and a QS 3200 UV printer.

Managing director Gerry Howell said that the appeal of the GS5000r was its flexibility of being able to produce photo quality print at 5m wide, so that interior graphics look good up close, as well as speed, turning out print for building wraps at up to 288sqm per minute.

The 30-year-old company is also looking to boost its green credentials with the machine, and is considering a possible future conversion of its 3m solvent device to dye sublimation.

Howell said that the company's policy is to print "small numbers of big things, rather than big numbers of small things", and the £2.5m turnover company has supplied print for the Carling Cup final as well as all the major festivals in London's Hyde Park for the past few years. And with the Olympics on the horizon, while Howell doesn't expect to land the big contracts he said "I'll happily take all the crumbs that fall off the table".

Howell added that the market appears to have turned a corner, with 2010 a sharp improvement on 2009, and plans for the extra capacity of the GS5000r to provide room for growth.