The PUR machine, supplied by finishing manufacturer Friedheim, will be installed at the Portsmouth-based company in early July, ahead of the 2011/12 football season.

Bishops prints programmes for 12 Premier League and Football League clubs, including Chelsea and Arsenal.

According to marketing manager Simon Brinsmead, some of the country's top sides are moving programmes from saddlestitched to perfect bound to "increase the perceived value", a move that has seen the company's outsourcing of perfect and PUR binding increase from £15,000 to £30,000 a month.

Managing director Gareth Roberts said: "The disproportionately increasing quantity of our business which is perfect or PUR bound means that the timing of this purchase has been brought forward from my original plan of early next year.

"The machine will not only eradicate our monthly outwork spend of nearly £30,000 per month but also bring about greater flexibility and efficiencies by bringing the service in house."

Bishops' binding line, which can run at 6,000 cycles per hour, includes a 16 station collator, allowing it to run jobs up to 256 pages, the City E perfect binder and a three knife trimmer. It has a maximum product width of 320mm and maximum height of 370mm.

The company currently employs 180 staff, it recorded a turnover of £15.5m in the last financial year but expects to reach £18m this year.