The postcards were launched at an event held as part of National Apprentice Week at Precision Printing on Friday.

Here, Precision’s three new apprentices met MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock Stephen Metcalfe and MP for Barking and Dagenham Margaret Hodge, who witnessed the mailers being printed on Precision’s HP Indigo 7500.

As well as requesting continued support for 16 to 19s on government-funded print apprenticeships, the mailers also featured a 'power of print' message.

"The cards are designed to say: hey Mr MP, when you’re at a committee meeting can you highlight how many people are employed in print and can we celebrate and support that by ensuring SMEs are considered for government contracts," said BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward, whose organisation instigated the campaign.

To MP Margaret Hodge’s concerns about the usefulness of apprenticeships to the participants and British industry more generally, MD of Precision Printing Gary Peeling responded that the BPIF apprenticeship scheme was "very valuable".

"The result just isn’t as good if we don’t use the BPIF’s formal training structure," he said. "Trainees don’t progress as fast and end up in positions for too long, whereas this formalises the process so they are moving through at the right pace."

He added that, while skills learnt as part of the scheme were transferable to other industries, print apprenticeships were great opportunities for school-leavers and vital to the prosperity of the industry.

"Unlike some other schemes a print apprenticeship can allow someone without A-levels or a degree to develop a career that pays a very good wage and is highly skilled," he said.

"And the way we ensure the future of the industry is to make sure we have new, well-trained staff within it."