The Leyton-based company splashed out £2.5m on the country’s first 12-unit KBA Rapida 105 long perfector in early 2007 and has followed that up with a number of finishing investments since.

Six months ago, it added a new MBO B26 folder, before installing a customised Beck Packautomaten Serienpacker Type SX1546 automatic packing machine earlier this year. In the last month, Alito has added a second MBO folder – this time a B30 – which replaces two older folders.

According to Alito managing director David Collins, the Beck was bought to service a new contract with a major financial house. It is predominantly used on the back of a Bravo stitching line.

He said: "Margins are tight and we are always looking for a more cost-effective way of doing things. This is a big investment and already we have won another new contract on the back of it."

The machine was customised in order to handle 18,000 booklets per hour, which are wrapped in packs of 10. The customisation uses an L-shaped lead into the shrink-wrapper, rather than going straight from the stacker.

Finishing manager Dave Jarvis said: "The bespoke collator is more efficient – we are using about a third less film on each bundle. We are saving space and, when we don’t need to wrap work off the binder, we can use it separately for other jobs."

Collins, who took over as managing director when owner Terry Brady stepped aside last year, has already targeted replacing his eight- and 10-colour presses with a 10- and 12-colour towards the end of this year or early in 2010.

"Last year we did £9.7m, which was up about 8% on the previous year. If we do that again this year I will be happy. We have the contracts in place so we have a great opportunity to do that," he added.