Celebrating the 61 winners of the charity's Rising Star awards – the awards saw young people across the profession issued grants of up to £1,500 each for training and development to help further their careers.

Drawn from more than 50 diverse job roles across print, paper, packaging, graphics and publishing, this year's winners were testament to the fantastic variety of opportunity in the industry, according to Neil Lovell, The Printing Charity's CEO.

He told Printweek: "It feels great today. We have more winners this year than last year – we're around double the numbers this year.

"Every year, we aim to encourage more people to apply, and it's working. It means all the support that we get from across the industry is really working, it's really great to see.

"Ambitious young people are there – and these awards help us identify them, and businesses are trying to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to join, with a wide spread of roles. It's not just about production apprenticeships – there are marketing, sales, data analytics roles –today's young people are inspired by jobs across the sector, so we need to harness that positivity and shout about it."

Baroness Nikki Morgan, The Printing Charity's 2024 president, opened the event.

"I'm very pleased to be part of this year's awards," she said.

"There is great potential for a successful lifetime career in print; Britain is the fifth largest producer of printed products in the world, and the second largest in Europe – in fact, according to the BPIF, there are more printing companies in the UK than McDonald's [restaurants] in Western Europe.

"The industry is dynamic; it's continued to evolve and change. And the fact that more than 50 very different job roles are held by our constellation of Rising Stars emphasises this."

Isabel Shanahan, Mac operator at Imageco, was one of the awardees: "Honestly, at first I was a bit scared to come to the event – I felt so honoured to have my hard work recognised, and it's brilliant to be able to use the grant to progress my career."

Shanahan will be taking part in a five-day graphic design course and a one-day course in exhibition design and management.

"For me, learning is so important – I'd love to make it to a manager role, and I'd love to be able to benefit Imageco with what I learn. I genuinely think print has endless opportunities – there are so many different roles, but people don't even notice how much is printed when you walk down the street. I just find it such an inspiring, creative industry."

The event, falling on the evening of the UK general election, was held amid an air of excitement in Westminster, with TV crews setting up their gear across from the Lords' in preparation for the 10pm return to election coverage.

"We didn't know, when we booked the date, it would be election day," laughed Lovell.

"It's certainly brought a slightly different edge to the location!"

Morgan, who herself had long experience with electoral politics, likewise joked about the occasion.

"Of course, you chose a really quiet day, with nothing going on at all," she deadpanned.

"I suspect that some of you have been involved in printing for the election – all parties and none. Just talking to a former colleague the other day, he said that in his constituency alone, 50,000 pieces of literature had been delivered since the end of May: so when the new government is driving for growth, I'm hoping they don't have to keep calling elections in order to drive that growth!"

2024 RISING STARS WINNERS

CORE SKILLS

• Alberto Alfaro Lopez continuous improvement engineer, Summit Creative
• Thomas Barrie Pre-press apprentice, Authentix Security Print Solutions
• Cayla Blandin de Chalain reprographics assistant, Amberley Labels
• Benjamin Bowden Number two printer, Reach Printing Services
• Oliver Gilligan client services account manager, Propack Direct Mail
• Daniel Greyson technical coordinator, Roberts Mart & Co
• Chloe Johnson senior commissioning editor, Liverpool University Press
• Isabel Shanahan Mac operator, Imageco
• Ben Stewardson graphic designer, Allen Signs
• Ella Tomkins design manager, Hachette Children’s Group
• María Victoria Velasco Sánchez project coordinator, Imagine Learning Studios UK
• Kyle Walker junior account manager, Data Image Group
• Kyle Wright Level 3 Signage Technician, Signs Express

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

• Richard Amos account & production manager, Precision Proco Group
• Eden Blankley account manager, Qualvis Print & Packaging
• Alexia Bush client relationship manager, Citipost Mail
• Giulia Caparrelli production controller, Bonnier Books
• Carl Hester security officer, Reach Printing Services
• Sophie Keech business development manager, All Vision
• Tori Kendrick production manager, Signs Express
• Connor Lonsdale commercial estimator, Coveris UK Paper
• Ronan McKechnie deputy shift operations manager, CPI UK
• Jake Raynor number one printer, Roberts Mart & Co
• Emma Reynolds customer services coordinator, Harkwell Labels
• Peter Scott maintenance technician, Reach Printing Services
• Lori-May Straw service delivery supervisor, Citipost Mail
• Jessica Wallace head of client services, Citipost Mail
• Adam Whiting Level 2 Print Operative, Offset Print and Packaging

PERSONAL SKILLS & DEVELOPMENT

• Melissa Clay reprographics operator, McLaren Packaging/Compack
• Sonja Burniston print maker and workshop facilitator, Blue Roll Press
• Jack Boswell technical consultant, Paragon Customer Communications
• Gabriel Connor lithographic print apprentice, Westrock
• Simone dos Santos inside sales consultant, Cengage
• Natassja Drobinski estimator and marketing support, The University of Sheffield
• Ella Drayton bench hand team leader, Precision Proco Group
• Jacob Morton shift engineer, Roberts Mart & Co
• Diyora Shadijanova freelance writer and journalist, self-employed
• Abigail Somers assistant editor, Bloomsbury Publishing
• Chace Vaughan manufacturing and number two print technician, Roberts Mart & Co
• Carys Vickers marketing and communications officer, New Writing North
• Cherrelle Wright head of service delivery, Citipost Mail
• Bobby Yaman stock coordinator, Reach Printing Services
• Mohammad Abdul Zameer Pasha production analyst, Transcend Packaging

TRAINING FROM PROFESSIONAL BODIES

• James Bennett graphic designer, Bluetree Group
• Lexi Bickell senior marketing manager, HarperCollins Publishers
• Rhian Davies marketing coordinator, Manchester University Press
• Elle Brenton-Rounding senior licensing partnerships manager, Hearst UK
• Bethany Connolly-Atkins continuous improvement & ESG Lead, Xaar
• Callum Flynn health and safety manager, Bluetree Group
• Abbie Golland HR assistant, eProductivity Software (ePS)
• Taylor Holland maintenance and engineering manager, CPI UK
• Lucy Kay account manager, Paragon Customer Communications
• Georgia Kelly creative POS project manager, Paragon Customer Communications
• Craig McKerchar publishing assistant, Floris Books
• Michaela O’Callaghan trade marketing executive, Bounce Sales and Marketing
• Beth Raven supply chain compliance manager, Coveris UK Paper
• Callum Richardson content marketing executive, Bluetree Group
• Hennah Sandhu senior marketing executive, Hachette UK
• Fraser Smith junior desk editor, Edward Elgar Publishing
• James Tullett health and safety advisor, Kimberly-Clark
• Abbie Wagstaff digital marketing executive, Signs Express