Running with the theme ‘Print in Balance – Supporting People and our Planet’, the event was held at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry and included food and refreshments throughout the day.

It featured four separate conference sessions, including seven presentations, broken up by plenty of opportunities to network at the supplier expo.

The focus of the sessions was on firstly, how businesses can increase their environmental sustainability, and secondly, how to ensure they are protecting the productivity and health of their teams through implementing wellbeing practices at work.

The sustainability side of the event included talks and real-life case studies from Lawrence Green of Greens The Signmakers, Andy Place of RPM Digital, sustainability specialists Tom Charles and Rob Pink, and Claremon’s John Conroy.

Meanwhile, the wellbeing aspect of the day kicked off with a frank and honest account from Futureprint’s Marcus Timson, on his own mental health journey, as well as presentations from Marianne Steel and Neil Lovell of The Printing Charity, about the services the charity provides, including its free helpline.

At the final session, Chloe Thompson from recruitment consultancy Harrison Scott Associates spoke about the ways that businesses can build a platform that enables recruitment by demonstrating a commitment to staff wellbeing and cultivating a company culture that people want to be part of.

Speaking to Printweek at the event, Brendan Perring, general manager of the IPIA, said: “We’ve tried to be quite innovative – for print businesses and the supply chain around them that are here today, it's really hard for them to spend a day out of their business and that is because of Covid, all of the pressures and everything that is placed on teams, so you need to try and provide a way for multiple different benefits.

“The MTC is a nice central location that’s a couple of hours from the majority of businesses in the North and South, and it’s a scientific research leading site; there are massive amounts of research going on here in terms of sustainability, technology, research and development.

“Also, whereas for most venues you have to give them a specific number of people that would be there on the day, the MTC was willing to change that up until this morning so that you only produce the exact amount of meals for the people that are here today, so there’s no food waste.

“That really worked well with the sustainability practices, and they also have really big policies on the wellbeing and health of their staff, which is good.

“We’ve also got networking, so print businesses can come and not only enjoy the content and learning, but there are significant numbers of print buyers here too that they can come and learn, network with and generate new business, so all of this justifies them the time out for the day.”

Sponsors included Antalis, BCR Associates, Canon, Duplo, Fujifilm, HP, Imprint MIS, Konica Minolta, PrintIQ, Tharstern, Vivid, Worksthing, Xerox, and Xmpie.

Two Sides, The Printing Charity, and Greens The Signmakers also had stands just outside the sponsor/supplier area, near the lecture theatre that hosted the conference sessions.

Perring said the collective support of the IPIA’s sponsors was indispensable, making the conference affordable and a much higher quality of experience for delegates.

Kevin O’Donnell, head of marketing, graphic communications at Xerox UK, Ireland and the Nordics, told Printweek: “Sustainability has been in our DNA at Xerox since the 1960s – we introduced energy saving and automatic duplex printing in the 60s – so we recognised that it was something that was good for the environment but, just as importantly, good business sense.

“Fast forward to 2022, and our goal is carbon neutrality by 2040, and like a lot of businesses we’ve started the journey but we’ve got a way to go. But we’ve got a plan and we’re looking at new technologies and new ways of addressing things to help us through that.

“This conference is really well-timed, and we’ll come away with some insight and ideas about how we can help. The two subjects are important to all businesses, particularly the wellbeing side post-Covid, but also with the new workforce and changes around flexible working like working from home.

“You’ve got to look after your staff, and not just put safety nets in for when they fall but also put things in place to identify [concerns] and support staff on a day-to-day basis.”

Fujifilm Europe digital press and print manager Mark Stephenson also told Printweek the event had been a successful venture.

“I love the venue – it’s good to have that kind of lecture theatre where as soon as you sit down you think ‘I’m here to learn’. If it was a load of tables with glasses and drinks on it would feel different, but with that it’s almost like there’s a focal point, which I think worked.

“We invited a range of people and one is a customer who we just met – she’s a family member of the owners of a company who is brand new to print, and this event is a great introduction, it’s nice to think that you can help with their expanding universe of understanding what print is. So it’s been really nice to chat to her and for her to be able to get access to all this resource.”

The IPIA Recognising Excellence Expo and Gala Awards will take place on 1 December in Stratford-upon-Avon.