The printer, which cost the Keighley, West Yorkshire-based firm around £65,000, was installed at its 1300sqm premises around six weeks ago.

The company had been using a Konica Minolta bizhub digital press but switched to Heidelberg as it found the cost of ownership to be lower. It is also using the printer as a proofer for litho, which it has said provides a "really good simulation" of the final result.

“The C751 can handle a lot more substrates than our previous press and the finish looks more like a litho finish,” said managing director Steve Bell.

“Customers don’t mind whether something is printed litho or digital as long as it suits the product. Often the decision is price driven. Most work of under 1,000 sheets will be printed digitally here.”

The business also operates a Ryobi 755 five-colour-plus-coater litho press and a range of finishing equipment including guillotines, folders, gluing lines and die-cutting machines.

The firm, which has also operated HP Indigo technology in the past, looked at a range of alternatives but found the Ricoh OEM’d Linoprint C751 to be the best fit for its requirements.

The C751, which is capable of printing up to 75 A4 ppm on media up to 300gsm, is billed by Heidelberg as its entry-level digital colour press.

“It was very easy to move to full production. We are using the same RIP as we had with the Konica press so our operators only really had to learn about issues like changing toner,” said Bell.

The company, which has 40 staff and a turnover of just under £4m, will use the C751 for a wide range of commercial work including short-run calendars, letterheads, business cards, booklets and swing tickets. The company also produces items including packaging, catalogues and business cards.