The Earby, Lancashire-based envelope over-print specialist ordered the two refurbished machines, which were stripped down to the frame and rebuilt with brand new parts, in March.

They include the company's first five-colour press, a 4/1 Halm EM5000 perfector, and its second Halm Superjet Plus, which was bought to handle an increase in C4 work and was the 10th two-colour press to be installed at The Envelope Work's factory.

The Halm EM5000 perfector will enable the firm to print four colours on the front of the envelope and a return address on the flap, in one pass, as opposed to two passes with the firm's existing kit.

Mark Farrimond, managing director of The Envelope Works and ACE Envelopes, said: "We are really pleased to add these two additional machines to our production.

"They provide us with much more print flexibility, which in turn enables us to reduce our lead times even further for our clients.

"In the current market, where turnaround times are of paramount importance, these machines will provide us with a notable advantage."

He added that between them the two companies have added 171 new clients in the first half of 2014, including "three new sizeable contracts", installed three Halm presses and built new archiving, meeting and training rooms.

"All in all, the strategy we set out five years ago is taking shape nicely and we are very excited about implementing the next stage of our plans," said Farrimond.