The BAPC Awards, due to be hosted in early 2017 in London, recognise industry excellence in three categories: Business of the Year, Environmental Printer of the Year and Supplier of the Year.

Bobb said: “What will be different this year we hope is that last year we only publicised to our own database, whereas this year we are looking for a greater number of nominations and perhaps a wider range of companies being nominated. The Business of the Year award, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean Printer of the Year.

“This is a small affair. We accept nominations from anywhere in the industry and pass them to a team of people who are not really connected with the BAPC.

“The wider the spread, the more relevant they are. It is very easy for awards to be handed to the same old boys but what we are trying to do is expand and get more people involved, by giving them third-party endorsements.”

Nominations were opened a couple of weeks ago, and Bobb believes the move to open up the awards to companies from outside the BAPC's 1,800 members will increase the calibre of nominees.

A decision will be made on winners, who receive a printed certificate, in the first two weeks of January.

The event is sponsored by Duplo, last year’s Supplier of the Year.

Duplo UK managing director Peter Jolly said: “As a company with an enviable reputation for supporting education and wider printing initiatives, we’re proud to be sponsoring these awards.”

The BAPC is a trade association for the creative industries, which include the graphic arts, print and communication sectors. Its aim is to cultivate a “community of print” that can act as a forum for those in the industry and beyond.