The centrepiece of the new department is a Fuji Luxel T-9000 thermal platesetter, which is equipped with a
fully automatic plateloader using Brillia high definition LH-PJE plates.

Prior to installing the machine, £2m-turnover B2B1 outsourced all of its platemaking to a third-party repro house. Director Chris Antoniou (pictured) said: “With the amount of money we were spending on pre-press, it made a lot of sense.

“We are now capable of imaging 14 B1 plates per hour, whereas beforehand, we had to wait at least a day.”
In addition to its new platesetter, B2B1 has invested in an eight-colour Epson inkjet proofer with GMG colour software.

Antoniou said: “This latest generation has made a massive quantum leap – it’s got three different shades of black within the proofer, which enables you to hold all the mid-tones and the grey-balance much more accurately.”

The department will be headed up by David Burley and Simone Sibley, former co-owners of repro house Principal Image.