THE tradition of printing in Penarth has a bright future, say the new owners of a Penarth firm which has seen dramatic changes in its 57-year-history.

Beacon Printers was set up in 1948, and has seen the shift through the decades from hot metal to digital printing.

The firm was set up by former Spitfire pilot Fred Beacon, on his return to Penarth after the Second World War

Fred is the uncle of David Sullivan, owner of the Sunday Sport and Sport newspapers and a Birmingham City Football Club shareholder.

The company was taken over last year by two employees, Peter Legg, who has been with Beacon Printers for 25 years, and Dave Stafford, who has worked there for 30 years.

They hope to keep Penarth's tradition of printing alive by investment in the digital age.

Peter said: "I started here as a hot metal compositor. My job was to arrange the type which was impressed directly onto the paper.

"We used a press called the Heidelberg Platten which looks ancient by modern standards.

"Things then moved on to the lithopress where the printer makes special high resolution printouts on acetate and uses them to make a set of'plates'. These'plates' are mounted in the printing press and impressions of the image on the plates are made in ink on paper.

"But there is no doubt that the future lies with digital printing," he added.

"We use the lithopress and digital methods but the digital side of the business is growing fast. In revenue terms it now accounts for 30 percent of our business.

"Our latest 100,000 digital press can produce 150,000 copies a month. The production process is much faster with digital - one or two days compared to four or five with litho."

Beacon Printers, which has 12 full-time employees, prints everything from invitations to company brochures, books and magazines.

Scores of books, including Penarth, The Story by Phil Carradice, have been printed by the company.

Peter added: "We have our own team of in-house graphic designers so we cover the full production process under one roof.