The Forum hopes that the move will improve its accountability to both members and non-members of the BPIF, which currently provides much of its funding.

PEF interim chief executive Richard Bloxam said: "By becoming a not-for-profit company, we're showing our independence from the BPIF in terms of strategy and policy, just as Vision in Print has been set up."

The PEF, which has just published its three-year Skills Development Plan to tackle the industry's skills shortage, has put SSC plans on the back burner.

"We've spent three years worrying about how to become an SSC. We are concerned that our failure to achieve that will damage our credibility," said Bloxam.

"The clear focus of our work going forward will be building on the achievements of the PGC NTO, and we've got a clear agenda that we want to implement.

"In the background, we're going to continue to lobby funding agencies, the government and the Sector Skills Development Agency to make sure that print and print employers get their fair share of government investment."

Catherine Hearn, PEF chairman and Polestar group human resources director, said that "training strategy is the main agenda item for the PEF" and that forming an SSC "should not become a distraction."

The Skills Development Plan for the Print and Printed Packaging Industry is available to download at www.pgcnto.org.

Story by Josh Brooks