The five-staff company spent less than £5,000 on the BooXTer and a Kasfold bookletmaker.

However, according to director Derrick Turpin, it has enabled the company to bring in work from the surrounding area, as well as from further afield, such as the USA.

The desktop machine produces bound books, A5 portrait and landscape up to SRA3 portrait and landscape formats. Spine widths range up to 8mm depending on paper.

DL Graphics has used the machine to produce fast turnaround books, particularly aimed at the photograph book and corporate brochure market.

Turpin, who runs the company alongside his son Trevor Turpin, said: "Where we are is a hub of activity and we are often getting people coming in off the street asking for dissertations to be bound or looking for photobooks. This new machine means we can turnaround short-run jobs quickly and add a hardback cover.

"It may be a surprise, but a little company like ourselves also does a lot of exports. We get a lot of work from the US. They may be putting presentation material together and it is fine to have wiro-binding for most people, but when it goes to the guy right at the top, they like to have it properly bound."

DL Graphics is based within walking distance of Chancery Lane and handles work from a host of businesses in the area. The £450,000-turnover company offers a range of services, including business card printing, presentation material and poster printing.