The KASfold Sprint 3000 bookletmaker has helped the Brighton company build its premium notebook business, while a TR2 in-line trimmer enabled it to automate the fold, staple and trim processes, said Alia Roberts who co-directs Doochy with Jess Humphries.

Total investment in the machines was around £7,000. The company's clients include the National Gallery and Fenwick, and Doochy also supplies clients across Europe. It aims to move into leather binding in the near future.

"We bought the kit to speed up the process; we started two years ago with £50,000 and hope to have a£100,000 turnover within two years and grow from there," said Roberts.

Ashgate Automation supplied both machines, said Roberts, adding: "Previously we trimmed the fore-edge of the notebooks with a guillotine but the on-line trimmer is faster. We take an ordinary product like a ring binder or a notebook and enhance it with our off-the-wall design skills.

"These are sold by us on-line and through the retail trade in the UK, mainland Europe and Japan. Doochy makes two sizes of notebook A5 and A6."

Roberts described the end result as "that all-essential pocket notebook needed by every creative thinker, artist, list maker and doodler."

The Kasfold Sprint 3000 booklet maker is manufactured by KAS Paper Systems in Dunstable.

The setup provides the firm with a far more efficient way of producing its notebooks.

"It is designed for short runs, which suits us well," Alia continued. "It should last us a lifetime because it is well made and can produce up to 1,500 notebooks an hour whereas we are currently only making a few hundred a day, packing and labelling them ourselves."

Doochy also runs an Ideal guillotine and a Duplo DFC-12 collator.