Purchased direct from the Chinese manufacturer, the new Guangya LK 106 MTF was installed last week at the Bradford-based company’s premises, which spans two adjacent units with a total of 1,115sqm space.

Business development manager Farid Malik told Printweek: “The foiler die-cutter investment has been made so we can improve our packaging and greetings cards department.

“We have been printing more greetings cards than ever before and packaging is also a growing segment. We will now be able to foil full B1 sheets, and then die-cut them.”

While the company has previously offered foiling and die-cutting in-house, it was only up to B2 on a Heidelberg Cylinder.

“This [new] machine will not only run at much higher speeds, but will also strip inline as well,” said Malik.

Print Plus UK also runs a B1 Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 five-colour with coater, which was installed in 2018, and a raft of finishing equipment including Muller Martini and Horizon stitching lines, MBO, Stahl, and Longford folding machines, and two fully integrated Polar guillotines.

A month ago it installed a Ricoh Pro C7210SX Graphic Arts Edition printer to strengthen its digital print arsenal, which also includes a Xerox Versant 80.

The new Ricoh and Guangya machines were both part of a wider £250,000 investment programme. Later in the summer the business will also upgrade its MIS, and Malik said it is “actively looking to purchase a folder-gluer”.

While Print Plus UK has traditionally predominantly served the hospitality industry, over the past few years it has shifted towards more value-added work including high-end brochures, hotel maps, packaging, and more greetings cards.