“We had a brilliant show, selling four machines – and we’ve sold six more since. We’ve been rushed off our feet,” said general manager David Green.

The Samsonn brand encompasses Ecofast eco-solvent, UVfast UV-flatbed and Dyefast dye-sub printers manufactured by two unnamed Chinese firms to Samsonn’s specification.

The machines and their inks are all aggressively priced and sold as complete systems including RIP and three-year warranty.

“Our USP is offering the lowest total cost of ownership in the product widths we supply,” said Green.

“It’s not just about the hardware it’s also about service and support – and Fastek has been in that side of the business for 20 years,” said Green.

The range starts at under £10,000 for the single-head 1.6m eco-solvent machine, the Ecofast 1601. Inks start at £65 per litre.

“We wanted to follow the Kia model – great prices and a long warranty for reassurance,” said Green.

The Ecofast machine is available in 1.6m, 2.5m and 3.2m widths with one or two Epson printheads. The Dyefast machine, which is based on the same chassis as the Ecofast, is available in 1.6m and 3.2m versions as either a transfer paper printer or a direct print unit with built in heating unit to fix the dyes.

The UVfast flatbed machines are based around Ricoh gen 4 printheads and available in 1x1.5m, 1.3x2.5m and 2x3.2m versions. Prices for a CMYK plus white version are £50,000, £75,000 and £100,000.

In addition to the UK, Fastek has launched the Samsonn range in Africa covering Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Tunisia and is in the process of setting up in France. The first 1.3x2.5m UVfast has been sold to a Nigerian firm.

In addition to the 'fast' range of printers Samsonn is also selling a range of inkjet imagesetters under the Filmfast brand, which are based on Epson aqueous printers.