The web printer has bought a new 12-station Kolbus KM 412C high-speed binder, in a £1.5m-plus spend.

The binder, which runs at 15,000cph, was installed last month in a new 2,800sqm unit at PCP’s 13-acre site in Telford.

“We were impressed by the speed, flexibility and versatility of the Kolbus binder,” said managing director Alex Evans. “It gives us the opportunity to sell a lot of added-value services to our B2B and consumer publisher customers.

“We need it for growth; we are doing more perfect binding work and wanted to increase our capacity,” he added.

The firm is relocating an existing Muller Martini Bolero binder into the new unit, to create a self-contained perfect binding facility.

The new Kolbus line can handle a wide range of product thicknesses, from just 1mm up to 70mm. It has a card inserter that can also handle items such as CDs and cosmetic sachets.

Other features include static nailing, for fixing inserts into specific positions within a magazine. It can also strap, wrap and auto palletise finished products.

PCP technical director Warren Irving described the line as “a seriously good bit of kit”.

It is the firm’s first Kolbus line, and Kolbus UK managing director Robert Flather said he was proud to add PCP to Kolbus’ customer base. “It is exciting to be involved in this expansion project which is a huge boost to both their range of bound products, and their capacity,” Flather said.

PCP has turnover of around £38m and employs 215 staff. It runs four web offset presses; 32pp and 16pp Komori System 38s, a 32pp Manroland Rotoman and a 32pp Goss Universal as well as six- and 10-colour sheetfed presses.

Evans said the firm had just taken on three new apprentices who will gain experience across all of the company’s departments.

The business prints for a wide variety of publishing clients. It has just been appointed by academic and scientific publisher John Wiley & Sons as its designated printer of B2B publications in the UK.