White became president on 2 December.
He will initially take on the unpaid role for a two-year term, although this can be extended, and will work closely with newly appointed chief executive Charles Jarrold, who joins the BPIF on 5 January.
White praised the impact that Garnish and late BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward had had on the federation, from the move to its new headquarters, the launch of the Graduate Training programme to realigning the BPIF’s business model.
“[Our tenure] will all be about the community of print, and that’s my message to the membership: We need to look at ways we can help each other, and help our business change and prosper,” said White.
And while he said that both he and Jarrold wanted to build on the foundations laid by Woodward and Garnish, he said that they would also like to leave their own mark on the federation.
“I think everyone has to make their own mark. I wouldn’t want to tie Charles’ hands. A lot of the hard work has been done and while I think there may be more change to come, a lot of the big changes have already been made.
“So now we can make sure that we remain focused on our members and helping them embrace the industry changes ahead. And on a wider scale lobbying for the industry as a whole and highlighting its importance for the country.”
Former accountant White joined book printing group Berforts, which has operations in Hastings, Stevenage, Eynsham and Kings Lynn, in the early 1990s. He’s been a BPIF board member for the past five years.
He was also joint owner of Butler Tanner & Dennis, with late publishing magnate Felix Dennis, before the business was placed into administration in May this year.
As a BPIF non-exec board member White was heavily involved in the recruitment of Charles Jarrold as the federation’s new chief executive.
“I would like to say a big thank to all of the non-execs who gave up a lot of their time, including Darren Coxon [Pensord], Gary Peeling [Precision] and Nigel Stubley [Northend],” he said.
“We received 20 plus applications, so they gave up an awful lot of time as part of the process that resulted in the appointment of Charles, but I think we got the right person.”
