The CD 102-5+L machine will replace two of the company's existing B1 Speedmaster presses, allowing the group to address a growing demand for in-line coating

According to John Hornby, chief executive of the £25m-turnover business, replacing the two older presses has taken longer than planned.

He said: "Normally we change our presses every seven to 10 years, but in recent years our investment focus has been on web and personalisation.

"It is testament to Heidelberg engineering that two of our older presses have continued to work so reliably."

Hornby said the new press, which will be installed at its Leeds site, will enable more efficient operation, freeing up press operators to move into other areas of the business.

"The new press, with pile turners, will be a 'one-man' machine where before it was 1.5 [operatos] per press. Operators work across the different presses so the knowledge and experience is very strong and they can easily be redeployed," he added.

The Speedmaster will produce a range of work for clients in the financial services, retail and fashion sectors, including magazine insert jobs.

In addition, the group will be able to print on a range of heavier stocks that were not possible on its M-600 and M-110 web presses.

Earlier this year, The Lettershop Group was revealed as the UK beta test site for Kodak's Stream printhead technology.