The bid to lead the way in carrying out changes to apprenticeships was submitted to the government in February 2015 and news of the successful bid to secure Trailblazer status was received by the BPIF in March.
This came after a merged consortium, comprising the BPIF and a range of print companies, with support from Proskills, The Printing Charity and Unite, was formed after feedback on an initial round of applications, including an unsuccessful application last July.
Ryedale Group commercial director, and chair for the consortium, James Buffoni is currently in the process of leading the consortium in designing the new apprenticeship print standards for pre-press operator, press operator and post-press operator.
Buffoni said: “This new standard has been designed for employers by a strong employer-led consortium – it is therefore a practical document designed to help employers to remove risk of recruiting an apprentice by providing a framework through which they can identify, attract and engage with young people, as well as providing a standard of expectations for their development.
He added: “The trailblazer scheme has helped to clarify three main points: firstly a confident message about why contemporary print is attractive - we need to show young people that contemporary print is alive and kicking.
“Secondly it clarifies the journey that fresh, young talent and employers can make to work together successfully in three specific print roles.
“Thirdly the Trailblazer standard plugs that gap by identifying, in plain English, what skills, knowledge and behaviours that a young person would need to succeed in that role.”
The first draft of the standard was distributed to a small group of printers who registered interest when the review process was started. This feedback was taken on board and the consortium has now produced a document, the content of which they are seeking wider input from the industry on.
The document can be downloaded at www.britishprint.com/printstandard and printers are asked to send any feedback to printtrailblazer@bpif.org.uk before 30 November 2015.
BPIF programme director Ursula Daly said: “This standard upon which all new apprenticeships will be based will benefit the whole industry and therefore your input is critical. Please take the time to review the document, pass it on to your staff and ask their thoughts, all feedback is valued.’’
Separately, the BPIF has announced Ancient House Press manufacturing manager Chris Pinborough as the first recipient of the Kathy Woodward Award for Learning.
BPIF chief executive Charles Jarrold and Webmart representative Rebecca Lambrianou recently presented Pinborough, a BPIF Level 5 Management Programme graduate, with the £1,000 award.
The award, which is sponsored by Webmart, was launched in July in memory of the BPIF’s former chief executive Kathy Woodard, who passed away last year. It aims to support individuals in the print, packaging and graphic design industries to further their careers.
Pinborough is planning to invest the money on fees for the BPIF MSc Management course, which begins in October.
