The £1.2m investment at the Nottingham firm also included an AccurioPress C12000e toner production printer, which joins an existing C14000 model that was Eight Group’s first Konica Minolta digital device, two years ago.

Eight Group is also using KM’s AccurioPro Flux Premium and AccurioPro Dashboard workflow software.

A new mezzanine floor is also part of the investment, and has created substantial additional space for tasks such as hand fulfilment.

Eight Group CEO Lance Hill said it was the culmination of a plan that had been formulating for two-to-three years, amid rapid developments in the digital press market.

“We outsource B1 and B2 litho work, and were looking at how we could bring more work in-house – we were looking for a digital press that could do everything,” he explained.

“When we saw the KM-1e at Drupa, the penny dropped. We looked at the quality coming off it and that blew me away, along with the variety of substrates it can handle.”

Hill said the Eight Group team had surveyed the overall digital press market and had carried out a deep dive analysis on costs before going ahead with the investment, the firm’s biggest yet.

The AccurioJet KM-1e can print on media with thicknesses from 0.06mm to 0.6mm, at up to 3,000sph with automatic duplexing.

Eight Group provides a wide range of print and marketing services, including direct mail, and also offers print management through its Eight Plus wing.

Hill said the business had developed “a real partnership” with Konica Minolta since installing the C14000.

“The C14000 has been reliable and the relationship has built – but obviously the numbers had to stack up as well,” he added.

Jon Hiscock, head of Production & Industrial Print at Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK), hailed the installation as a key moment for the UK B2 print sector.

“We’re proud to partner with Eight Group on this important step forward. Their investment reflects true partnership with a clear understanding of evolving customer needs and future market dynamics.

“By co-creating a tailored, scalable solution with Eight Group we’re not just delivering exceptional print quality and efficiency – we’re helping them to future-proof their business.”

The new equipment was commissioned at the end of March.

“With no plates required we can be so versatile, we can also alter the settings to use less ink on suitable jobs and when we tested this the results were as good as the litho samples we’d taken for comparison,” Hill added.

“The broad substrate range means we can look at work such as short-run packaging, and instant drying means we can finish jobs immediately for speed to market.”

Hill said the new setup also fitted in well with Eight Group’s environmental aspirations, as the amount of transport being used is reduced. The firm has been a B Corp since October 2023.

He expects at least 50% of the work previously being outsourced can be brought in-house, with savings of around £125,000 as a result.

It's also Eight Group’s first investment to involve external finance, arranged through Compass Business Finance, with Hill and Compass director David Bunker becoming acquainted via their involvement with the IPIA.

“Compass is a trusted partner in the print industry and did a good job,” Hill noted.

“The funding process was as simple and straightforward as could be. From the beginning, I felt a strong connection to Compass and David – the rest is history.”

Hill said that the business worked with a number of trade finishing partners and additional post-press investments would likely follow further down the line.

The fresh investment means Eight Group has become an all-Konica Minolta house, “gracefully parting company” with Xerox and with its older digital presses, a Baltoro, Versant and Nuvera retired.

Eight Group employs 31 and is on track for turnover of around £12m this year. The firm operates from a 975sqm facility, with the mezzanine adding a further 278sqm of space.

It is planning an open day for customers on 25 June, with the theme of ‘Press Play’ to highlight its expanded offering and the creative marketing and personalisation possibilities.