In an article in this week's PrintWeek, which comes out on Friday, Bernard Rutter – national sector skills co-ordinator at Unite – revealed that print received £23,400 funding last year. This figure pales in comparison to smaller industries such as extractives, which received £2.4m.

Rutter said: "Given the fact that the print sector is the largest single sector within Proskills and yet it is still down at the bottom with coatings in the Employer Engagement Funding league, it's clear that print companies need to make a massive investment in staff development.

"To put it bluntly, the print industry is in Conference League, while the rest of the Proskills sectors are in the Premier League. We should make no bones about it, the future of the industry is at stake and it's up to us to take control of our own destiny."

Proskills said the figures are skewed because there is already a clear training framework in place in print, with organisations such as Leicester College and the BPIF not accounted for in the figures.

However, the skills council admitted much needs to be done to encourage employers in the print industry to take up training.

Richard Bloxam, printing industry champion at Proskills, said: "Other sectors are not as mature as print so, as virgin territory, require higher costs. Print has a very well established provider network.

"Loads of things are being done to remedy the situation. Briefings, PR campaigns and award ceremonies are amongst the initiatives to help raise the profile of the industry and help employers understand what is on offer."