Chris Matthews took on the role at the start of the month having previously been with Kodak. He said that he wanted Punch's range of Xeikon digital presses to raise their profile and push into new markets such as transactional.

"The plan is to focus on areas where we have not been successful," he said. "We have all the equipment to make an impact.

"We also need to do more than just shifting boxes. An area that has been overlooked is the added software solutions and consultancy service. If we can do that we can differentiate ourselves from the others."

Matthews added that he wanted to show the market that Xeikon's technology is better suited to more applications than inkjet.

"We can compete with the inkjet boys in terms of cost," he said. "It costs millions to invest in inkjet and in this economic climate, are people going to take a massive gamble like that? I think we are well-positioned."

The new managing director said he intends to have individuals focusing purely on markets including graphic arts, transactional, labels and industrial. Punch is also set to unveil a new financing package for customers early next year.

Matthews was tight-lipped on details and stressed that the plan had yet to be signed off at board level. But he added that the package would give Punch an "advantage".

Matthews took over as managing director from David Mooney, who took over as Nipson UK managing director after Punch bought a stake in Nipson (PrintWeek, 28 November). Matthews was previously a UK director at Kodak.

"The opportunity to become a managing director was attractive," he said. "I've always thought that the Xeikon range was excellent in terms of quality and applications.

"At Punch, unlike Kodak, we can make quicker decisions. The timing to join was good and Punch approached me."