Industry celebrates its Rising Stars

07 July 2023

Business

More than thirty 18-30-year olds won financial support to develop their careers

The Printing Charity lauded the industry’s bright young things at its annual Rising Stars Awards reception at the House of Lords.

The Awards are open to 18-30 year-olds working in the packaging, paper, print, and publishing industries, with successful applicants receive training and development grants of up to £1,500.

According to CEO Neil Lovell the charity and its partners, including the BPIF, made a concerted effort to engage with the print and packaging sectors for this year’s scheme.

Almost 60% of this year’s winners came from print.

The pivot was partly supported by the huge take-up of the Charity’s free helpline which now partners with 250 companies, giving access to free, confidential advice and support across a wide range of issues to their 22,000 staff and their families.

Around 140 guests attended last night’s reception, which was hosted by Printing Charity president emeritus Lord Black of Brentwood, deputy chairman of The Telegraph Group.

Speaking at the 6 July event, Lord Black said: “This is always one of those points of the year I look forward to with great anticipation.

“The awards this year cover a really exciting diversity of opportunities, the wide variety of job roles and the organisations they [the winners] represent shows that print is still a thriving industry offering huge potential on which to build a very successful career.”

Out of 114 entries, 34 winners were selected by the 16 judges to receive bursaries to advance their careers. According to Lovell in total the winners will use their grants to undertake 75 courses.

More than half of this year’s winners were women.

“The reality is no matter what your ambition or what you want to try and do, there’s a role in our sector… and it’s about sharing that, and all the winners here encourage other young people to think about this sector as an opportunity to grow a career and develop,” Lovell said.

He also highlighted how the industry is rapidly changing and how young talent is supporting and, in some cases, driving that change.

“Some of the roles that exist today, didn’t exist five years ago… and in five-years’ time we’ll be saying the exact same thing. And this goes to prove that this sector knows how to evolve and knows how to develop, but it needs young people to help it do that.”

Just before the presentation of their certificates, Lovell spoke directly to this year’s winners and wished them all good luck in their future careers and thanked them for the enthusiasm they displayed in the interviews, which he said “simply bowled our judges over”.

The Rising Stars Awards winners are listed below, but more information on the individual winners, including how they will use their grants to develop their careers, is available on the charity’s website.

This year’s event was supported by Unite, the Publishing Training Centre, Dynamic Print, Fedrigoni and McLays.

2023 Rising Stars winners

Core skills training

Robyn Benham designer, Coveris UK Paper
Erika Budreviciute account manager, Northern Flags and Faber Exposize UK
Lauren Raftery client services, Northern Flags and Faber Exposize UK
Jake Ross copywriter and social media executive, Solopress
James Whitestone self-employed

Professional training

Ally Boldan PR & communications executive, Bluetree Group
Marta Catalano desk editor, Pan Macmillan
Patricia Chido marketing and sales assistant, Scribe UK
Rory Codd publicity assistant, Farshore
Jana Craddock editorial assistant, Routledge
Iva Dobreva marketing executive, Northern Flags and Faber Exposize UK
Luke Drysdale graduate PPC manager, Bluetree Group
Jack Pearson sustainability manager, Bluetree Group
Aleksandra Polasik postal team leader, Go Inspire Group
Tia Ralhan learning content editor, London Institute of Banking & Finance
Jessica Readett publicity and social media manager, Bookouture
Sophie Ward marketing executive, Paragon
Rachael Wass editorial assistant, Oxford University Press
Kevin Worrall marketing executive, Edinburgh University Press

Personal skills development training

Mychael Bottomley production operative, Northern Flags and Faber Exposize UK
Annis Livock human resources co-ordinator, Roberts Mart & Co
Taylor Lock customer service executive, Amberley Labels
Stephen McAulay quality apprentice, WestRock
Emma McLarnon designer, McLaren Packaging
Joel Sharp self employed
Gabriela Solarek trainee account manager, Eight Days a Week Print Solutions
Aaron Toombs pre-media operative, BCQ Group
Darryl Worbey account manager, Webmart