The Speedmaster 74 handles short-run brochures, folders, inserts and mail shots and has improved capacity and turnaround times, said the family firm.

"We wanted more capacity and can push 4m worth of work through the kit over two years," said Spencer Sands (pictured centre), co-director with brother Lee (pictured second right).

"Buying secondhand has saved us money and we are producing work 40% faster than before."

The Speedmaster, supplied by DPM, runs beside two six-colour Heidelberg B2 machines at the Lingfield factory in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Sands, who works with his managing director father David (pictured second left), said the quality of the 10-colour enabled the commercial printer to roll out a greater variety of work.

"We can perfect stocks up to 300gsm, which we did not expect to be able to handle on the press."

His firm recently bought a Screen TrueFlow CTP system and added 1,500msq of floorspace by moving to an adjoining factory.

Sands expected his 36-staff company to add over 1m to its 2.9m turnover in a year, and may look at moving into B1 a year later.