The printer, which was launched at Fespa in Munich in May, was delivered to the seven-staff firm's premises at the end of August by RA Smart, the UK’s exclusive supplier of the model. It has joined an EFI Vutek GS printer plus an HP Latex 360 and two HP DesignJet Z6100 aqueous systems used for smaller work such as poster printing.

A specialist supplier to the retail POS and exhibition markets that turns over around £750,000, Manchester Print Services is about to begin a four-year contract supplying substantial quantities of backlit displays to a major customer, with offshoot work expected.

The Stitch S1000, which can print both onto transfer paper and direct-to-fabric, was developed to meet the rising demand for polyester-based textiles printing.

Director Lee Egan said: “We wanted to make sure our new long-term job runs as smoothly as possible, so decided to have the Stitch installed straightaway.”

Manchester Print Services installed a Blackman & White VersaTech cutter-router in November 2017 and followed this with a 3.2m-wide Mimaki JV5 printer and a 3.2m-wide Monti Antonio heat press in early 2018.

Having started off in a 93sqm unit, the firm has gradually grown since and purchased a new 836sqm facility in late 2016.