The Leeds-based company, which was awarded direct mail company of the year at last week's PrintWeek awards, said that the new machine will increase its capacity as well as opening up new avenues for work.

TLG's new machine has been specified by the company and includes various finishing options such as folding, binding and coating. The company has also left several sections empty so that additional features can be installed when needed.

Kodak Versamark personalisation technology has also been added to the line, which can run both 16 and eight page web production.

TLG has added the machine to three existing Scheffer lines, two 16 page and one eight page finishing lines.

Executive director James Hewlings told PrintWeek: "The machine has been running now for around six weeks and it has changed the economics of how we run. It has allowed us to compete for work that previously we couldn't."

According to Hewlings the machine is capable of running at speeds of around 800 feet-per-minute on "reasonably complicated jobs".

He said: "With finishing machines that are traditionally bolted on to the end of a press the economics are much higher. With our split process we can run the machine on jobs as small as 80,000 units."

TLG, which has been in operation since 1886, recorded a turnover of £32m this year and currently has 260 employees.

Hewlings added: "We made a brave decision to expand our capabilities at a time when the industry as a whole is dealing with very challenging times and the products and services we're now able to offer our clients as a result of this investment have seen our business prosper."