Major told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that he believed the UK was "starting on what will be a slow road to recovery" citing a number of factors, including falling unemployment and rising industrial production.

He becomes one of the most high profile commentators to date to claim that 'green shoots' are on the way, something he said many government ministers would be loathe to do after Norman Lamont's infamous 'green shoots' remark during the recession of the early 1990s.

However, while UK Print is currently benefitting from its annual autumn boom in the run up to Christmas, BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said it would be some time before the industry would know for sure if the worst is over.

"It's always hard to guage this time of year because it's typically when we start to see an uplift in the run up to Christmas," said Woodward. "It has been a pretty dire summer and trading is certainly getting better but whether that is green shoots or Christmas pull forward is hard to say.

"Some of the digital equipment manufacturers have reported robust sales during the current quarter, which is an encouraging sign, but the crunch time for the sector probably won't come until Q1 of next year."

Asked about the positive impact of the £1.1m training grant awarded to print under the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP), Woodward stressed that it was a major achievement for the sector to be viewed as "transformational" rather than as a "legacy" manufactuing industry.

"It's fantastic for print to be recognised by an initiative that is really meant to support those sectors that are tilting for success," she added. "It's really important that we've gone over that bridge from being seen as a legacy industry to one that is at the forefront."

She added that the BPIF had already accepted its first applicants to the scheme, with more than 20 people signed up from web offset printer BGP.