13 November 2015

BPIF Apprentice Council hold first meeting and talk with PrintIT! winners

On Wednesday 4 November, the newly formed Apprentice Council met with the 2015 PrintIT! winners at London Calling, kindly hosted by Duplo at Sunbeam Studios near Ladbroke Grove.

The apprentices spent time with each of the exhibitors who demonstrated their latest pieces of kit, which they thoroughly enjoyed. In the afternoon, the first Apprentice Council meeting was held, where the chairman and six regional representatives discussed their ideas for reaching out to current as well as potential apprentices and shaping the delivery of their training programmes. The apprentices then met with the 2015 PrintIT! winners from St Ives School in Cornwall, where the students learnt about their positive experiences in the print industry. The students agreed that after speaking to the apprentices about their varied job roles, they would be more likely to consider an apprenticeship.

The BPIF Apprentice Council Chairman, Josh Levett-Thomas, of Hobbs, spoke of the day, “Being part of such a great event was a privilege. London Calling was an amazing experience for the Apprentice Council, we got to see where the future of print is going.” Having recently completed an advanced apprenticeship in Mechanised Print Finishing & Binding himself, Josh was happy to answer any questions that the competition winners had, alongside the other apprentices. “Meeting the young competition winners from Cornwall was brilliant, they were inquisitive and had plenty of questions about the industry. Being able to share ideas and experiences was a good opportunity. Overall it was a fantastic day and we feel like we learnt a lot.”

London Calling is an event which focuses on print technology and solutions, where Duplo and their partners unveil their latest software and machinery as well as display complete workflows.