The Hebden Bridge-based firm acquired the assets of Airedale Products & Print in 2010, which included eight Intertype machines.

Its product range includes Prelogram personalised Moleskine and Leuchtturm notebooks blind embossed using hot metal type. Sales have boomed since the company started selling the notebooks four years ago, doubling year-on-year. It sold 8,000 last year.

UCI creative director Jennifer Crawford explained its latest move into mobile hot metal.

“Some local engineers designed and built a steel frame on wheels for us, so we can transport the Intertype to events – its first outing was the Clerkenwell Design Festival in May.

“Now we’re hoping to take it to the Ideal Home Show in London in November. We feel there must be some retired or semi-retired hot metal typesetters who’d be up for doing an event like this now and again.”

UCI employs four technicians, and hopes to build up a pool of freelancers to augment its own team for special events.

Crawford and two other employees have also just started learning how to use the hot metal system themselves, and are being trained by full-time operator David Evans.

UCI has also created a video of the personalised notebooks being produced, due to popular demand from customers wanting to see how the once-cutting edge technology works. 

The firm is co-owned by its 26 staff and has sales of around £2m, which includes its specialist lighting business. It lays claim to being one of the first Living Wage accredited employers in the country. 

Intertype typecasting machines are very similar to the iconic Linotype hot metal system, as featured in Linotype: the Film.