While a purely honorary commendation in a modern context, the Freedom is awarded to recognise significant contributions to business and public life, or to honour celebrities and prominent figures.

Jarrold was put forward as a potential freeman by the print industry’s livery company in 2016, following his appointment as head of the BPIF in January 2015. He expressed a desire to keep print moving forward after receiving the honour last Friday (2 February).

“I doubt I’ll be herding sheep over London Bridge any time soon, but I will be using this to benefit the print industry,” he said. “I feel very positive about print in 2018, there is a lot of great innovation going on and that should remain unchanged.

“Though we could do with more clarity on the Brexit situation, I believe the overall themes of print as a modern, tech-based sector are more powerful than that. We are able to look at how things are changing, make decisions and be bold.

“Along with the Stationers' Company and the Printing Charity, the BPIF is now working on a project to promote apprenticeships in print and solidify our future. We hope to have an event put together for June where schools and employers can come together on this.”

The BPIF has just released its latest Printing Outlook report.