The Manchester-based company, which specialises in designing and manufacturing its own range of acrylic and other plastic signage, bought the machine, which was installed in June, for around £15,500 from City and West End Solutions (CWE).

The 360 was launched in April along with the lower volume 310 and 330 options. It can print at up to 91sqm/hr in single-pass mode and features an eight-inch touchscreen, double-sided printing and automatic ICC profiling.

The printer will help the firm to expand its services further into window and floor graphics as well as temporary textile printing for exhibition, display and signage.

The firm also looked at the Roland Soljet Pro4 XF-640, known as ‘the beast’, but found that the HP Latex 360 was a better fit for its requirements.

In the past two years the business has also invested in a Summa F1612 cutter, an HB Scitex FB500 flatbed UV printer, laser cutting equipment from Nottingham-based CadCam Technology and a diamond polisher for finishing acrylic sheets.

“We chose the HP Latex 360 partly because it works perfectly in tandem with our F1612 cutter. We were attracted by its speed, quality and productivity and the latex technology opens us up to a new area of textile printing,” said managing director Graham Croston.

“We’re really pleased with it and excited about the possibilities it offers us in temporary textile printing for the POS and display market. Not only is the fabric output attractive and durable, it’s also highly practical for all kinds of display system.”

The firm, which has 14 staff and celebrated its 21st birthday this year, serves trade customers as well as major retail outlets and blue chip companies.

“Our business is growing all the time and we’ll be looking to invest again in further equipment next year. We’ve improved our turnover by over £200,000 this year and we’re looking to take on another three to five staff in the next six months,” said Croston.