The Luton company won the Bedfordshire region business innovation gong for focusing on staff needs through management, leadership and vocational training, said managing director Toma Habashi.

"There is no business without people and we are very lucky to have the team we do," he said. "We have built up the company on the basis of matching people to the areas that make them tick rather than forcing them down rigid career paths."

Nine-staff Silvertoad prints stationery, leaflets and letterheads on an Oki C9655 digital press, which is a fifth of its output. Much of the rest, which includes magazines, is outsourced to printers such as Pensord and Manson Group.

Judges described the five-year-old firm, with a turnover of just under £500,000, as "a forward thinking company who are clearly using innovation as a vehicle for growth and have therefore proven that they are the business to emulate".

Customer services director Amy Waller said: "Around 95% of our work is won on customer recommendation. It’s great to work in an environment with positivity, internally and with our customers. The results are plain to see."

Silvertoad, which is in the heart of a regeneration zone, aims to double staff and turnover in the next 18 months and is using the Government-backed GrowthAccelerator scheme.

The service targets companies with high-growth potential and offers coaching, mentoring and part funding for courses, said Habashi.