The new company, Scienta, has signed a deal with US hot-foil stamping manufacturer Graphic Art Systems to distribute each other's products.

According to managing director Hopkinson, the Scienta product uses a segmented shaft, allowing multiple strips of foil to be used. He claims this is something that is not possible on other cold-foiling systems.

"There are fewer parts to our system, which makes it less expensive than other options," he said.

"The makeready time is also much shorter, if you do it while changing plates on the press it will not interfere with your makeready time at all."

Hopkinson left OFT at the end of March this year, due to disagreements over the cold-foiling equipment the company was supplying.

Cold-foiling allows metallic foil to be placed anywhere on a sheet. Products are fitted to a litho press and the foil is added during the print run.

Hopkinson has launched his own cold-foiling system, the Scienta Foilflow, which is to be built in America and distributed there by Graphic Art Systems.

In Europe and the rest of the world, Scienta will distribute the machine, as well as Graphic Art Systems' Eagle System hot-foiling machine. The two companies exhibited together at Drupa this year.

The Foilflow system can run at speeds of up to 16,000sph and can be retro-fitted to "any normal single impression presses".

Hopkinson said the company had already taken several orders from American companies.