The Redditch, Worcestershire-based company purchased the machine to meet a rising demand for its litho-laminated corrugated packaging.

John Weedon, managing director of the £10m turnover business, said: "We got the machine because the amount of litho-laminated work has increased and this product gives up greater capacity to do work in-house.

"We were originally outsourcing our work to UK-based subcontractors, but now we are going to be saving several hundred thousand pounds a year.

"The litho laminating machine resulted in us maintaining employment in the workforce. The investment means we are deploying the workforce to the machine."

According to Weedon, the 100-staff company also plans to invest in further products in the future. "The next area of interest is material handling equipment to get finished goods off the machine and move it around the factory and eventually get it onto the trucks," he added.

Also included in the spend was the company's recent replacement of three folder-gluer machines with a Visionfold machine and the installation of a Visioncut diecutter.

It is hoped that the kit investment will increase capacity for on-shelf and point-of-sale display products.