Last year the BPIF secured a £1.1m funding package from the government’s Employer Ownership Programme to offer 200 fully-funded places on a management development programme targeted specifically at the print industry.

Learners are expected to complete the programme within two years through a combination of workshop events, home and work-based projects. The syllabus consists of eight mandatory day-long sessions and eight optional, with each being repeated six times in different regions and at different times to give all learners the best chance of attending as many as possible.

Training, which will be delivered by BPIF Training as well as independent experts in their fields, will lead to an NVQ level 5 Diploma from the Institute of Leadership and Management – recognised nationally as the equivalent of a foundation degree.

The course is now fully subscribed with 200 learners from across 50 organisations and around half are expected to attend the launch on 30 April.

BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward will kick off proceedings with an introductory speech followed by a presentation on managing development within organisations.

After a networking lunch, DC Thomson chief executive Ellis Watson will deliver a keynote speech on managing change within the print and media industry.

Finally the day will be rounded off with the first official workshop of the programme, giving an overview of the scheme.

BPIF consultant and programme manager Ursula Daly said: "This the first management programme in print and with this in place the print industry becomes a serious alternative for someone that may have been considering going to university.

"The focus is obviously on print but the programme will deliver skills that can be applied anywhere. We are incredibly excited about kicking this off. It’s a really big deal for the print industry and we’ve had a fantastic response from both the learners and organisations of all sizes."

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