The trade-only firm, which was founded 18 months ago, took delivery of the six-station machine last Friday (22 April), and it was due to start running this week.

Capacity for the machine, which can insert up to 14,000 C4 envelopes per hour, was immediately filled at the show by a 3m-envelope order from Scottish printer The Paper Chain in Galashiels.
Laser2Mail sales director Gerry Talbot said that the spend was due to "unbelievable" growth at the firm.

"There's a lot of work coming in at the moment. It's our fifth inserter, and our third new one in a year, which isn't bad going," he said.

He added that the firm had budgeted to buy its fifth inserter in August or September, but that his team had been "sufficiently impressed by the quality and speed of the machine that we bought it there and then."

The machine, the first of its kind in Yorkshire, features five rotary feeders and one stream feeder.

The value of the sale was not revealed, but Talbot said: "We're both happy with the deal."

The investment comes after a period of rapid expansion at Laser2Mail, which has grown from nine staff at its launch in late 2003 to more than 30 now, working two shifts.

Talbot said that an additional two or three staff would be taken on following delivery of the inserter, and added that the firm's next investment would probably be for a new lasering machine.

Story by Josh Brooks