Chinese and Indian exhibitors at the event, held on 14-16 April in Earls Court, London, have all reported significant year-on-year gains.

Romi Vohra, managing director of Mumbai-based print group Repro India, told PrintWeek India, that he had seen more and more Indian firms at LBF each year.

He said: "This is our sixth LBF. In that time our UK sales have grown by 10-15% every year."

Himanshu Goel, senior marketing manager for Gopsons Press (India) agreed: "We have been coming here for 15 years and have seen the market growing by about 15-18% every year."

Andrew Law, sales manager for China-based 1010 Printing, which exports to the UK, US and Australia, said: "We averaged one new customer a week last year and saw a 100% increase in sales."

It is thought this rise in offshored business may mean that, in the future, Indian and Chinese printers will themselves look for relatively less-developed countries with a more affordable talent pool to produce print.