The machine, which the firm bought from Intelligent Finishing Systems for around £62,000, was installed at its Ilford premises in June.

“We’re located next door to a printer and when we went in to take work of theirs to be finished, we realised that it was going out for PUR binding. We then rang around to see how many of our existing customers put that work out and it was quite a few of them. So with the demand there, it made sense to invest in that area,” said director Lee Harvey.

“The BQ470 will help us extend the services we offer to our existing customers, while making us more attractive to potential customers.”

The firm researched the market, and looked at alternatives from Morgana, Duplo and CP Bourg, but found the Horizon machine to be the best fit for its requirements.

“We started looking into it at the beginning of the year and it was just a matter of weighing things up and finding the right machine to suit our needs,” said Harvey.

“We had a good look around at all of the PUR binders at Ipex and came away with the decision to buy the BQ470. It was the only four-clamp machine that we found and we kept coming back to it because it can handle short, medium and long runs.”

The 1,350cph machine offers fully automated set-up through an icon-based LCD touchscreen and can produce books up to 65mm thick. It is equipped with two large application rollers for strong, high-quality binds and a separate side glue tank for added flexibility.

“It’s a very user-friendly machine – it's efficient, operator friendly and easy to get the hang of. It can go from 1.8mm thick to 520-page brochures of 50mm or 60mm. It can produce an excellent book,” said Harvey.

Blue Star Trade Finishers has five staff and a turnover of £250,000. It predominantly serves other print firms operating in the London, Essex and Bedfordshire areas.