The Buckinghamshire-based firm will install a Speedmaster SPC 102-7PLX with a new Suprasetter 102 thermal platesetter in May.

The bespoke seven-unit B1 press is a combined SM 102/CD 102 that can take board and comes with a coater and extended delivery.

The kit will be linked via Prinect and feature closed-loop colour control. "We're putting the science into our printing," said sales and marketing director Paul Stirland (pictured).

Windles currently outputs 750 plates a month, a figure it plans to increase. It also hopes the kit will help it push further into new markets.

"Many of the finishes we are using for greetings cards could be as relevant to the packaging and label sectors," said Stirland. "So we will be extending our sales into this area in the future."

The 60-staff firm has pioneered its own hybrid press system. The "Foiltone" system was developed by a Windles employee and enables the firm to print silver foil as solids and halftones using litho, without the cost of dies.