Evonprint based in Small Dole near Shoreham in West Sussex was founded by Steve Rowland in 1987. Staff include his brother Martin and son Adam.

The £4.2m-turnover printer has around 40 staff and runs kit including a 10-colour B2 Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 with perfector and coater and two Ricoh digital presses: a standard four-colour 700 and a newer 751 model with a fifth colour unit, which Steve Rowland hailed as "brilliant".

“We have staff coming to the end of their careers and those in their 40s who I'd call the last of the true apprentices and then we have a gap.

“Apprentices of today fill that gap  because they have great skills and flexibility. They energise the workplace because the older guys love engaging with them – they like passing on their skills.”

Rowland added: “We want to increase emphasis on digital and Stephen will start there but we put apprentices through every aspect of the business. If I had more room I'd take on two more apprentices.

Parsons said: “When I left school, I didn’t know what career to choose. I tried college but felt I wasn’t best suited to it although I still wanted to learn.

“Some of my family work in the print industry and heard about the Evonprint apprentice scheme so I thought I’d go for it.

“The family atmosphere is nice and they are looking after me really well. It helps to have a more experienced apprentice here too; Sam has been great at advising me.”

His Evonprint mentor Andy Mott said: “Stephen’s enthusiasm to learn and develop in the industry is what we look for in newbies.

“Stephen has already expressed a desire to run his own press soon. It’s great we are investing in getting youth back into a traditionally aging industry."

Earlier this month Evonprint rolled out its 'Love Sussex' calendar photography competition for the second year running to highlight it's strong local ethos.