Pyramid head of sales and marketing Neil McCarthy said customer demand spurred the deal, which covers large format print, imaging and finishing equipment such as Roland printers and cutters, Seal laminators, Dataplot eyelet machines and Matic sewing and welding equipment.

"Our customers were asking for advice on wide format equipment and ancillary machinery. In the past we have just passed these enquiries to various other machinery suppliers but in reality this was a missed opportunity to broaden Pyramid's product portfolio," he said.

"When we saw the solutions on offer from Atech and realised that their own philosophy and approach to business was similar to ours, we started a discussion. We are very pleased to announce this alliance today, which means that we are the only company in the UK to be able to offer the comprehensive range of sign and display products from Atech."

Pyramid is also building new offices with a distribution centre in Manchester that will house a machinery and wide-format application showroom, giving Atech a strong presence in the north.

Atech's UK showroom and demonstration facility is in Welwyn Garden City and Atech managing director Allan Ashman added that the agreement meant customers in the the north of England and Scotland would now have "a reliable experienced supplier who has the knowledge and backup that we provide".