The London firm has invested in a VeloBlade Volta 69+ digital cutting table with VeloTaper taping system, and a Matrix MX-370MP digital foiling and special effects device.

The new kit has been installed at Rapidity’s Sidcup site over the past week with training already completed.

Rapidity also has a facility in central London.

“We are already running live work on it,” said Ben Manning, production director at the family-owned business, which was Printweek’s Company of the Year in 2019.

The firm’s setup already includes a Kongsberg cutting table, along with traditional foiling and die-cutting facilities.

“The new equipment helps us with short-run creative work, packaging and boxes, and prototyping. We can get straight onto it and gain time,” Manning explained.

“We can also put more work on a sheet and we don’t have to buy the dies in – it has lots of advantages.”

Manning also praised the ease-of-use of the new equipment, which represents a circa-£40,000 investment.

“There’s been a huge upturn in demand, which is another reason to buy this equipment.

“Order volumes are on the way back up after Covid, and we will have more new kit coming in over the next few months. Retail work is back with a bang.”

The business has sales of £7m and employs 35 staff.

It offers a wide range of services spanning litho, digital and large-format and works with a raft of blue-chip clients.

Vivid product and sales manager Lewis Evans said the manufacturer was delighted at the double investment and praised Rapidity for its eco-friendly ethos.