The new machine, built by CPF technicians on the company’s own manufacturing equipment, folds and glues Z-fold cards – for instance, tourist pocket maps or guides – in a single process.

Creating the cards had previously been labour intensive, with experienced operatives able to glue around 100 per hour: CPF’s machine can produce 4,000 per hour.

Developed over the course of a year, in response to rising demand and a lack of machines with such a capability, the new hardware is fed from two conveyors simultaneously.

Jamie Court, CPF’s managing director, told Printweek that the development required “a bit of jiggery-pokery” to get everything in place.

“[The development] had challenges getting the folding elements of the machine to work with the tipping on and gluing side: you are effectively doing two completely separate processes,” he said.

Fortunately for CPM, the company’s manufacturing engineers were able to build the machine in-house; to get the R&D funding, however, the company enlisted outside help.

“[Applying for funding] was something new to us, and we have had years and years of development: we’ve never gone down that route, because it has always seemed like a paperwork nightmare,” Court said.

If a company has developed a new process, product or service, or modified an existing one, it could be eligible for R&D tax relief. Leaning on tax specialist Catax for help, CPF was able to claim back £74,000.

Court added: “It seems so daunting if you don’t know what you’re doing.

“It’s quite amazing how many costs you don’t realise you have [when researching and developing]: you just do it.”

CPF employs 30 and uses a stable of Horizon and Herzog-Heymann equipment, with five stitching lines and 26 folders at its Leicester site.