Sakurai has sold two of its new Oliver 466 SIP offset presses in Britain and Ireland and is looking to sell a third under a special offer.

It refused to name the firms, one in Ireland and the other in East Midlands, but the machines were sold for about 299,000, nearly 43,000 under the list price.

Mark Jennings, branch manager, said: When you have a new model you want a special promotion.

Its a small machine, which is a major consideration for one- to two-colour print firms who want to get into four-colour work and dont have big shops.

It has high speed, a perfector, semi-automatic plate changing and comes with a one-year warranty.

The Oliver 466 launched in May and prints 15,000 sheets an hour, but takes up 40% less floor space than the Oliver 474 EPII, said Jennings. About 50 have been sold in Japan.

The order must be placed within about two months, in time for delivery before the end of next March, he said. The offer also includes a 1,500 option to visit Tokyos Graphic Arts Show in October, refunded against a machine order.

Jennings joined Sakurai Graphic Systems last week from US web press maker Comco, where he was director of European sales.

Story by Jez Abbott