The Gerrards Cross-based company, which rebranded from Greenford Printing this summer, has installed a Canon imagePress C6000 for colour digital printing, and a Canon iR 7105 for its mono operation.

Its foray into the market has come as the 33-staff business aims to become a "one-stop shop" for its client base that includes local government, authorities and general commercial work.

The spend has allowed the printer, established in 1962, to bring previously outsourced work in-house while offering its existing litho customers a range of digital print.

Elliot Banks, marketing director of Gpex, said the move into digital reflected a growing demand from the market for shorter runs and faster turnarounds.

He said: "Digital print will allow us to provide a more complete service while keeping on top of the latest technology."

The printer, which is approved by the Office of Government Commerce, has already been producing more than 100,000 impressions a month on the C6000 while hitting volumes surpassing 250,000 on the iR7105 machine.

Gpex is also planning to move into the personalisation arena and is trialling software that will help it produce mailshots, brochures and other pieces complete with variable data information.

Banks added: "Personalisation is definitely a growing area and one we plan to offer in the future. The digital side of things complements our litho offering."

The company, which also runs B2 and B3 Heidelberg presses, claimed the print quality of its new kit has allowed it to mix and match press output when required.

 "The advantages of being able to print on substrates that were normally only suitable for litho printing and the excellent output quality made Canon the perfect choice for our transition to digital," said Banks.