Up to 20 free places are available to commercial print owners or directors at each of the five events run in conjunction with Print Future. Key focus areas will be business planning, production efficiency, sales and business development, and adding new services.

Konica Minolta production printing market development manager Mark Hinder said: "There will be no kit or technology; we are not trying to sell anything but give advice on business, marketing and sales and how to remove costs. The whole programme is geared around their businesses.

"We want to teach them what to do to to embrace new ways in the market place. We will give them the tools to make a mini business plan and look at whether they survey customers, how they market themselves and who to, how they train sales people and how they grow business."

The initiative follows on from the Digital 1234 business development training Konica Minolta launched at Drupa 2012 and will underpin a similar training initiative the manufacturer is working on for next year’s Ipex.

Follow-up sessions will take place to see how individuals implemented what they learned at the workshops, said Hinder. The workshops will take place at: St Brides in London on 12 November; in Bristol on 19 November; Nottingham on 26 November; Warrington on 3 December; and Livingston, Scotland, on 11 December. Case studies and other good-business examples will be part of the programme.

Hinder said: "These events will help enable printers to determine their future growth strategies and opportunities through identifying key priorities. This isn’t about investing in technology and solutions, it’s about knowing how the market will adapt and what to plan for."

BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said: "It is really positive to see the whole supply chain coming together to harness the undoubted opportunities of the quickly changing digital arena."