A review commissioned by business secretary Sajid Javid and carried out by chief executive of the Mitie Group Baroness McGregor-Smith found people from BME backgrounds “do not excel in the workplace at the same rate as their white counterparts”. 

So what about in print? Head to any industry trade show and it is hard to ignore the lack of BME representation. But what do those from BME backgrounds who have progressed through the industry think? Are we a covertly discriminatory industry or is print open to all? 

“When I was a kid, my father didn’t speak to me when I decided that I wasn’t going to be a doctor or a lawyer. We in the Asian community are traditionally pushed into academia or legal or medical professions,” says Gurdev Singh, manager of Yorkshire-based printer North Wolds Printers. But he feels barriers to his progression have been few and far between and recounts fondly a number of white mentors that saw him through his early years. 

At number 23, Lascelle Barrow, director of £50m-turnover Augustus Martin, was the highest-ranked BME print figurehead in the 2015 PrintWeek Power 100. He is one of just three, along with Npower’s Jeff Richards and MBA Group’s Bachar Aintaoui. 

Together with co-founder Barry Dix, Barrow spent £2 on a homemade printing table in 1966 to set up Augustus Martin, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. According to Barrow, it employs approximately 15% BME staff in its Bromley-by-Bow facility, a noticeably diverse part of London. 

Barrow recounts: “My teacher at school actually thought there was a bit of discrimination as to why I didn’t get my first job. I came third in the school so was in the A-stream, and someone who was in the D-stream, who was probably about 140 places lower, got a job that I went for.”

But Barrow doesn’t believe that lack of BME representation is a problem, or consequently that it need necessarily be addressed. He says: “In an industry where most companies are 20 to 30 people big, what chance do people have to progress if they are not part of the original management staff? I mean I know black guys who are starting companies and they are doing quite well. But there are not many.

“The government could be right but I think the printing industry is a slightly different kettle of fish. Because companies are of a small size they simply don’t have time to discriminate.”

Singh views the issue as being far more wrapped up in the British socio-economic landscape, and believes lack of BME representation in print works hand-in-hand with a lack of representation of people from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

He says: “Rather than black and white, for me, I think it’s a social issue. If I look at the interns that Northwolds takes from the recruitment agency, the vast majority are from middle-class families, about 80%. From a lower socio-demographic scale, I don’t think they understand the game.

“If you are going into an industry that is already slowing without many working class and ethnic people in there it’s going to be harder. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Asif Choudry, sales and marketing director of Leeds print and marketing solutions firm Resource, believes the key issue is attracting young people, something that print has forgotten how to do. The issue of BME representation is, for him, a non-issue. 

In his first job, two of four applicants hired from a pool of more than 100 were of Pakistani descent, Choudry included. Since then, he can only think of one other BME person in the industry he has encountered.

“I don’t see it as an issue, or consequence of society for that matter. I would say there are probably a lot of other problems in attracting younger people. I think we’ve got to make it a more attractive sector for younger people and make it a more exciting prospect. This is probably a bigger issue than attracting BME workers specifically,” says Choudry.

On the subject of positive discrimination, or forced quotas to get more BME people into print, he is nonplussed. He says: “If the sector did something like that or introduced quotas it would highlight something that wasn’t there. Personally, I would find that quite patronising; it’s not like we need to recruit more BME workers in the armed forces, police or services, it’s just a private sector industry.”

PrintWeek asked the BPIF what its thoughts were on the lack of BME representation in print and whether it has a specific equalities officer responsible for dealing with these queries. It chose not to comment. 

Singh, for one, is surprised. “I think that is a disgrace. They obviously haven’t considered it, otherwise they would have someone for it.

“In the service industry, they are much better. Even the banks are better for that kind of stuff. I don’t know what to say about that other than I’m very surprised.” He points out that there are no BME people on the BPIF board.

A problem that is being debated readily in everyday society, but the jury is still out on whether it needs to be acted upon within this industry.