The eight-colour press is being delivered to the Southwold, Suffolk-based firm’s 4,413sqm premises on 18 July and will replace an existing eight-colour B1 XL 105, which is being part-exchanged. It will join an existing eight-colour B1 XL 106, a five-colour B1 XL 106 and a five-colour B2 XL 75.

Building work on the new 1,486sqm paper warehouse, which started today (24 June) and will be completed early next year, will enable Micropress to store a wider range of stock and provide it with more space for future production expansion.

Serving clients including print management companies, print farmers and publishers, the business produces items ranging from leaflets to magazines and catalogues in a range of formats.

“We’ve outgrown our current building – we need a bit more production space and storage space and paper is the obvious thing to move. It just means that we can carry on holding large volumes of stock; we store a wide range of paper so that we can produce any job today,” said production director James Cross.

The business anticipates its current 80-20% work split between B1 and B2 production respectively will be nudged slightly more in favour of B1 following the installation of the new long perfector.

“Our work mix is going to change a little bit because of press capacity and we’re pushing a bit more in the B1 area in terms of magazine and catalogue work,” said Cross, who added the latest generation version Inpress Control and Autoplate XL will keep colour consistent and improve makeready times at the business.

“These are crucial tools for productivity and service and the short makereadies and quick turnarounds mean our prices remain competitive.

The included wallscreen, part of the Push to Stop operation, will make it possible for   the company’s press minders to load and run up to 30 sections which will then run autonomously through the press with minimal human intervention.

With around 180 staff, Micropress is projecting turnover this year of around £18m to £19m.