In production since the start of April, the two presses and applicator machine represent an investment of £1.2m for the company in the past six months.

The technology, which Tancia calls UltraHD, offer “unparalleled” print quality for the merchandising sector, according to Tancia, which said the transferred prints – which, unlike current inkjet technology can wrap right around small circumference objects like pens – represent a new step for the industry.

Neil Cleere, managing director and founder of Tancia, told Printweek that the new transfer-based process would allow the company to take advantage of the ease of digital printing techniques, without having to sacrifice print quality.

The entire transfer and application process was built from the ground up in a partnership between Tancia’s three-strong research and development team and an unnamed New Zealand company. Tancia’s team developed the technology, with the other company building and testing the machinery.

Cleere declined to offer specifics on how the technology worked, other than confirming that the machines printing onto the transfers did not use inkjet technology.

He said: “We, the [merchandising] industry, we’re shrouded in secrecy.”

He added, however, that the now operational machines are able to produce up to 750,000 transfers a day. Bottlenecked by the application process, that leaves Tancia with “a very healthy speed” of 2,000 transfer-printed pens an hour.

Cleere was, however, sanguine about the development, which he said was one of several launches for the company in coming months: “It’s not a super big deal. We are pioneers in digital printing – we were the first company ever that prints promotional items, anywhere in the world, to use digital technology.”

One such development is the upcoming launch of an upmarket range of carbon-neutral promotional products, in partnership with a yet unnamed Hong Kong company. The launch is expected in the next four to five months.

Tancia employs 130 employees, with a turnover of nearly £11m, having grown from 2022’s turnover of £8.4m.

Cleere was optimistic of growth in the coming year, as demand bounces back from the pandemic’s lows.

“Our whole industry took a huge knock during the pandemic, because we’re allied to the hospitality industry,” he explained.

Now, however, the firm is taking on around 10 staff every month.

“We’d take on a lot more if we could find them - you just can’t get the staff. We’re turning away work because we can’t get the bodies.”