The Cheshire-based business has taken delivery of the production machine to cater for the growing demand for digital print catalysed by its online web portal, Digital Print Express.

Phil Reynolds, operations director at Cestrian Imaging, said the installation followed on from a previous decision to broaden the company's offering.

He said: "We decided a long time ago that it’s not just about adding ink to paper, but that we needed to be a digital business and provide the most up-to-date services and be equipped with the latest technology within this field."

The investment in HP is the latest stage of a 10-year relationship with the manufacturer on Cestrian's wide-format display side.

According to Paul Whitehurst, managing director at Cestrian, the HP Indigo 7500 "ticked all the boxes".

He added: "We intend to fully utilise the VDP capabilities of our HP Indigo 7500 in order to offer more products that feature variable content and personalisation.

"We also plan to make use of the exceptional colour range and additional spot colours available with the press, as many of our clients’ own brands or their customers’ brands require extremely accurate and consistent colour reproduction."

The 7500 model is designed to replace both small and midsize offset presses at companies looking to offer printing variable-data jobs such as photobooks, direct mail and marketing materials.

It can print at speeds up to 120ppm in full colour or 240ppm in either monochrome or two-colour mode.

The press can also handle paper formats up to a 330x482mm maximum and stock weights from coated 80-350gsm and uncoated from 60-350gsm.