The new machine was installed at the Chesterfield-based outfit on 15 January. It is fitted with a mini jumbo roll feed and a 10kg bulk ink supply upgrade to reduce downtime.

Supplied by CMYUK, it is the fourth Mimaki machine onsite and its time will be divided between soft signage applications, such as high-end flags, and sportswear printing.

Director Ryan Shelton said: “We’d like to be the number one supplier of dye-sub flags and sports clothing in the UK, and if we can get close to that, then happy days.

“The Mimaki TS55-1800 is really good in terms of quality, speed and ease of use, and it gives us the opportunity to add various functionality in the future to ensure long-term 24/7 operation at highly economical running costs.”

Mimaki’s eight-colour system prints up to 1.9m wide at a maximum resolution of 1,200dpi.

It will not only support Banner Box’s mainline business, but its sportswear output will aid the company’s subsidiary Young Guns Sports, which was established two years ago.

“It’s a division that we set up to complement the Banner Box side of things,” Shelton said. “We staff it purely from the Banner Box side, so depending on where the influx of work is, our staff move around accordingly.

“It works seamlessly with the infrastructure that we already have available to us. We saw that there was an opportunity in the existing market to set-up an additional business and compete that way.”

Banner Box is now looking to replicate this model in another sector, eyeing up decor and interiors as a possible new avenue.

The company currently employs circa 60 members of staff and runs an EFI Vutek FabriVu 340 alongside two solvent systems and one additional transfer printer from Mimaki.