According to director David Milson, the company had looked to upgrade for a while, when a secondhand machine became available.

He said: "It has eight plates in the first folding unit which gives us more flexibility and the resources to produce leaflets with more pages."

The £27,500 machine enables EPF to produce miniature-folded pocket guides, which have the front and back covers attached, as well as z–folded leaflets.

Milson added: "It will improve our capacity with our existing clients and gives us the possibility of pricing more complex folds."

The £1.2m-turnover company, which employs 25 staff, offers a number of finishing techniques, with PUR perfect binding its core product.

It also handles laminating, die cutting and stitching and said it may add mailing and thread sewing in the near future.