Rose Signs & Engraving bought the machine, which was installed on Monday (26 November), to use alongside its existing Mutoh Valuejet, which it bought five years ago.

General manager Mick Lee said he chose the Epson 1,626mm (64") four-colour, indoor and outdoor signage printer because the company was expanding its banner printing service.

"We’ve started to broaden our horizons over the last 12 months. We used to do a lot of construction-site health and safety signs but, now that money’s tight, companies are keeping hold of them and reusing them between jobs."

Lee said he was interested by a lot of the machines on display at Spandex but the Surecolor S30600 was best suited to the company’s level of work.

"There were more expensive eight- and ten- colour machines but we want to wait a few years before we move up to that level of quality."

As part of the £16,000 spend Rose Signs & Engraving also bought a Summa plotter and a Keencut Evolution wide format cutting system.

Lee said Spandex also gave the company an Image Perfect heat press as a "freebie".

He added that the three-employee, £250,000-turnover company was hoping to take on more staff in the New Year as a result of the move in to banner printing.

"We’ll have to assess where we are in six months and make sure we’ve got our pricing right," he said.

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