Announcing the “channel partnership” at The Print Show, Telford, this week, the deal was signed in July and will involve the print kit supplier taking on a number of Canon imagePress machines for distribution, along with providing servicing.

PPD managing director Mike Ashforth said he was “delighted” to be working with Canon.

“The reason that we wanted to partner with Canon and looked outside our current cut-sheet capability is that Canon’s range is looking much further forward,” said Ashforth.

“The inkjet cut-sheet presses that they manufacture as well as the 8000 and 10000 toner-based machines are where our customers are heading in terms of requirements for the future. As digital volumes grow and grow these volumes need to be printed on a device that is faster, more reliable and cheaper to run.”

Seven-staff PPD, which is based in Haslingden, Lancashire, has taken on the imagePress cut-sheets C650, C750 and C850, along with the Drupa-launched C8000VP and C10000VP, with the C850 being demonstrated on its stand at The Print Show for the first time. The most recently launched machine is the C650, given its debut earlier this year, intended as entry-level for in-house print departments and creative businesses. 

Founded in 2012 by former Konica Minolta and Ricoh employee Ashforth, PPD specialises in commercial print and direct mail, along with the overall 'Print for Pay' markets, distributing the likes of Mimaki flatbeds.   

Ashforth said that what sets the £1.1m-turnover firm apart from the competition is its streamlined focus on mainly dealing with commercial printers. 

He added: “We have an extremely close working relationship with our customers as we completely understand their needs and we only work with that environment, whereas the majority of our peers tend to sell a plethora of equipment."