Organised by WorldSkills, The Skills Show will promote the best in vocational training in the UK.
Apprentices from Warwick Printing, Stirland & Paterson, Hartgraph and Phase Print will compete for gold in the print category which is sponsored by Heidelberg, with support from BPIF, X Rite, Sappi and sector skills council, Proskills.
Print industry lead for Proskills Richard Moore, who advises the competing print apprentices and other students with an interest in print, said he wanted young people to understand that a career in the industry was worthwhile.
"I would also like employers to recognise that it is no more sensible to put a young recruit into print without training than it would be to put them into a car without lessons or a test. They need training to enable them to work safely and competently," he added.
Heidelberg UK marketing director, Mark Hogan, said: "We are really pleased that Prokskills is joining us in the quest to show just how skilled and creative our industry can be."
"Print has a very strong future and these competing apprentices will demonstrate how rewarding it can be to produce quality results under pressure, the reality of life in printing today," he added.
The apprentices taking part are Jamie Cleave from Warwick Printing, Craig Clifford from Stirland & Paterson, Ashley Howland from Hartgraph, and Jordan Moore from Phase Print.
Competitors should be able to run a five-colour offset litho printing press and guillotine and be able to mix a special to a defined Pantone colour and measure and monitor colour.
