The 1.5m B format machine will join an A and a B format Timson at the Croydon factory, and is the first additional capacity investment at Bookmarque since it opened in 2000.

"It was always the plan that we would go to three presses into the one binding line because that's the right balance," said Fulmar chief executive Mike Taylor. "On our B format we've been working on a quad shift for quite a while so we knew that the investment was due."

In preparation for the web's arrival Bookmarque's Muller Martini Corona binding line will move from a double shift to 24-hour operation from September.

The additional book printing capacity will also have a positive knock-on effect at jacket and cover subsidiary White Quill, said Taylor. "Every paperback order includes a cover for White Quill so it's good added value work for us."

Books, jackets and covers now account for around a third of the commercial print group's 40m sales.

Story by Lauretta Roberts