The firm secured a 35% grant towards a Xeikon 3500 digital label press and has taken on three production staff to man the new machine and its two existing Xeikon 3300 presses. It has also taken on an additional artworker in its studio and another sales person. It has doubled its factory space to 1,000sqm by taking on the industrial unit next door to house the new machine, a refurbished studio and additional office space.

In order to secure the grant it had to switch banks, which managing director Simon Smith described as "a big downside to the process of getting the grant but worth the effort".

"I’m an ex-bank manager, and my understanding of finance and what’s available helped to source the funding," said Smith. "I was aware that HSBC had signed up to the scheme but that our bank Barclays hadn’t."

It has also become the first firm in the UK to adopt Xeikon’s Color Control System, a cloud-based colour management tool that harmonises the output across the firm’s three presses.

"Previously to ensure a match we would need to adapt the CMYK values in the studio to ensure the correct Pantone value for each press," said Smith. "With the new system that is no longer necessary. It saves us considerable time and it gives our customers greater colour security and also enables us to provide them with reports on the colour of their jobs."

The Xeikon 3500, which has a 516mm wide web compared to the 330mm of the 3300s, has increased the capacity of the firm by some 60%. Currently the firm slits the wider reels to enable finishing on its 330mm-wide equipment but it has ordered a wider finishing line for delivery by the end of Q1. The success of the new press has led the investment to be pulled forward from later in the year.