NEW £500,000 digital and finishing equipment is the latest in a multi-million pound spending spree by a West Yorkshire printing company as it marks its 20th anniversary.

The investment by Drighlington-based Bahson Colour Print has been made to specifically expand the services it offers to small and medium businesses. .

Bahson Colour Print is one of the first printers in Yorkshire to take delivery of a recently launched state-of-the-art Hewlett Packard Indigo 7800 B3 digital press.

The machine, which complements Bahson Colour’s two large-scale presses, enables the company to cost effectively print small volumes of brochures and other types of marketing literature, while maintaining print quality.

This latest machine follows a total investment of £4 million on two Heidelburg XL range colour presses, which can print up to 18,000 sheets an hour.

Bahson Colour was founded in Leeds in 1996 by husband and wife team Ian and Suky Jenkinson who are the company’s managing director and financial director respectively.

The company acquired its current premises on the Adwalton Moor Business Park near Drighlington in 2001 and now employs more than 50 staff.

Last year the firm turned over £6.75 million and plans to grow this to £7.5 million in the next two years as well as recruiting a new estimator and expanding its sales and customer services teams.

Ian said: “Over the last 20 years we have printed more than 1.5 billion sheets for a vast client base ranging from retail giants Next and Sainsbury’s through to many of the region’s leading design and marketing agencies.

“During this time, our ethos has always been about employing an expert team, as well as continually innovating and investing in the very best equipment.

“Despite speculation about the demise of the print industry which I strongly disagree with, it remains a great sector to work in for those businesses that get it right. This means being competitive on price and having a dedicated and knowledgeable customer services team that can advise on everything from paper stock to print finishes for each individual job.

“It’s this level of service and expertise that continually sets us apart from our faceless online and overseas competitors and we are looking forward to a very bright future.”

He said the new Hewlett Packard machine enabled Bahson to be more competitive on price whether thousands of catalogues or 50 brochures.