The press replaced the company’s previous HP Indigo 3050 press, which Elephant Print & Display company director Jason Gadd said was nearing the end of its life and only had another few months of support from HP remaining. 

Gadd said: “We had been looking around for about six months as we knew we had to change the 3050. I suppose once you’ve had Indigo quality, it’s hard to go back really.

“This one has the sort of productivity enhancements we wanted, so it is much quicker to change consumables, change blankets and job changeovers are much quicker as well. The old one has a litho paper feeder whereas this one has three trays.”

Gadd and the Elephant team were also impressed with other aspects of the press, such as its white ink option. He said: “We went for a white ink option so will be looking for some extra work on that. We are quite close to Brighton so lots of creative companies down here so I think they will be keen to explore the different materials we can now produce.”

The HP Indigo 5000 produces image quality of 812dpi with a max image size of 300x440mm and max paper format of 340x470mm.

Elephant has also recently appointed a new sales director, David Bass in a further bid for expansion. Bass will begin in the post next week. It is also looking to expand the floorspace of its two 80sqm converted barn units in Lewes, Sussex, and recently installed 600 Solar PV panels, allowing machinery and presses to be run from the electricity generated.

Formed 14 years ago by Gadd, the company employs five staff and turned over £438,000 in 2015, with projections similar for 2016. Along with the Indigo 5000, it runs a Xerox Colour J75 Press for transparencies and envelopes and an Epson Surecolour for wide-format work including banners and posters.