The company in Hinkley, Leicestershire paid around £50,000 for the machine and replaced a Minolta Biz Hub to run alongside its litho production suite. Managing director Adrian Stacey-Connor said he hoped the new kit would add 10% to the existing £2.4m turnover within a year.

“The quality attainable from this machine means we can make a decision based on run length, price and flexibility," said Stacey-Connor, who also looked at Xerox and Ricoh technology. “The quality is a given. Each job will be assessed and allocated to the technology it is best suited to."

“This also opens new variable data opportunities. Apart from quality, we can use our standard litho stocks even up to hardboard without worrying about using specified stocks. We can put smaller runs of DM through the machine, with runs at 90 colour pages a minute - very fast for our needs.”

John Baxter’s 29 staff run two Speedmaster SM 74-5+L presses and a two-colour Quickmaster 46. Stacey-Connor said he may replace one of the litho presses next year.

The business has been running since 1856 and offers councils, blue chip firms and “the butcher down the road” posters, corporate literature and brochures.

“Business is very good this year; I think the economy really has turned the corner. Now we can offer a full technology package to our customers. The new machine will open new doors and give us another edge with our existing businesses.”