Augustus Martin subsidiary Billboard Posters, in east London, has invested 600,000 in two PressJet machines to replace its Scitex Idanit.

And SSDM in Lowestoft, which was the European beta site for PressJet, is installing its second machine.

"We are converting several accounts to digital wherever possible," said SSDM managing director John Moore.

One account that has already switched to digital print using the PressJet is McDonalds delivery fleet.

It was also used by the Royal Mail for its Christmas campaign.

Other users include Tesco, Sainsburys and Viacom, for which it produces bus-back graphics.

The firm has spotted an increasing trend towards what it terms "fleet advertising", where firms use their vehicles for promoting a product for a few weeks or months and then apply new graphics.

"Its about speed," said marketing director Jonny Hawkins. "What used to take five to six weeks with screen, can be done in five to six days."

Both of SSDMs machines run 3M inks to provide guaranteed outdoor durability.

"Our customers demand durability or colourfulness and sometimes both," said Hawkins.

Alexander Boyd Displays of Lisburn in Northern Ireland has also bought a PressJet. The firm is building a new factory beside its existing site to house the machine.

Scitex Visions UK sales executive, David Watson, said: "Over 1m of business is not bad when people are saying the market is saturated."

Story by Barney Cox