The BPIF's National Council has voted for a "significant" restructure of its subscription model.


A new structure will come into force next April, and will consist of three levels of membership package. Details will not be available until next month, but a more "member-friendly" package has been among the top priorities for the BPIF's new team of executive directors.


The council also gave the green light to plans to recruit new business development executives for regional offices, and a survey of membership views on national pay bargaining.


Meanwhile, a joint BPIF and GPMU proposal for a printing industry Skills Action Fund has been met with "hardly any response - we were deluged with apathy", according to BPIF training and commercial products director Andrew Brown.


The proposal suggested a contribution from firms banded according to size, ranging from 50 to 250.


"Employers haven't given their views and they're the people we want to hear from," Brown said.


The proposal noted that "a voluntary approach to training has failed to deliver the numbers of skilled people the industry needs", and pointed to recent research that found that almost 40% of print companies had suffered labour shortages, leading to higher costs, within a six-month period.


Contact: Richard Beamish beamishr@printnto.org.uk. Tel: 0121 789 5100.


Story by Jo Francis