The machine was installed at the Basildon-based firm’s premises earlier this month. It is an upgrade on a two-year-old Xerox Versant 80, which Lynhurst business development manager Gary Marchant said had had a great deal of use. It was supplied by printing kit reseller Mayday Graphic Products. The cost of the machine was not disclosed.

"Because we’d been running with the Versant 80 for some time, and obviously that has always performed for us, we really just wanted to upgrade,” said Marchant.

“The reason for the investment was to increase our productivity and to take advantage of the extra quality that the press offered."

The machine runs at a top speed of 80ppm, taking paper weights from 52gsm to 350gsm at a maximum sheet size of 330x660mm. Suitable for a wide range of media types, it runs a Fiery EX 180 digital front-end (DFE) and comes with an inline spectrophotometer for increased colour automation.

Marchant added: “Our digital output has significantly increased over the last few years. This increase in the amount of work, the speed and quality of the Versant 180 were important factors in our decision to upgrade.

“Lynhurst Press has continually evolved and invested in our 30-year history and this recent investment gives substance to our strapline, ‘We keep changing so you don’t have to’.”

17-staff Lynhurst Press, which has sales of nearly £2m, also runs litho and wide-format kit, including two five-colour B2 Komori presses, one with coater, and an Epson SureColor. It produces a wide variety of commercial work, with clients including Harrods, Telegraph Group and the Royal Horticultural Society.