A friend needs a new multifunction printer for a small business run from home. Any recommendations or warnings?

Must do this:
Print in colour
Scan
Work reliably

Nice if it did this:
Wifi
White in colour
Cheap ink
Fast printing

Are laser ones worth the inital outlay? I have an Epson printer but it seems very ink-hungry, are some brands better than others?

Budget is £200 max but ideally less is better

HP Officejet 7500, colour, wifi and network ready, prints A3, document feeder for scanning, £ 149, £ 45 for a full set of XL cartidges which last a lot better than my Epsom ones did. Only downside is it’s black.

Does he want it to do guns as well?

The HP looks pretty good thanks. XL cartridge capability sounds good too.

Not sure I understand about the guns.

print a gun

HP tend to be pretty solid bit of kit, but as always I’ll add my “stay the **** away from crappy kodak’s” comment

One of these might suit the bill – I’ve been using one of the printer-only versions for a year or so and it’s been brilliant – fast, quiet and pretty economical on the ink (if you get the XXL versions they’re good for several thousand pages). Have mine connected to a wireless network hub and PC, Mac and iPad all connect to the printer first time every time. Not small, but OK in my office. Copes well with thick card and envelopes (straight-through paper path if you use the rear sheet feeder), and prints double-sided on plain paper.

Brother MFC J625DW here
Wifi,
AirPrint
duplex
cheap ink
reliable
£90 off Amazon

If you do photo printing its worth finding out if it will do borderless prints or not (many don’t).