BPIF chief executive Michael Johnson and Pindar chairman Andrew Pindar, who will chair the forum board, are to meet with Stephen Timms, minister for e-commerce and competitiveness, on 5 November to discuss the final bid.

A dummy forum board meeting took place last month on HMS Belfast and was attended by 10 top-name industry chiefs from firms such as Polestar, Ormolu and Donnelleys.

Approval for the forum had been deferred after the GPMU pulled its support following the BPIFs refusal to recommend a training levy to its members (PrintWeek, 16 August). It is understood that the DTI has told the union that it does not sponsor training and did not want it to form part of the forums remit.

However, Johnson and the unions general secretary Tony Dubbins are discussing how to tackle training issues. The pair met to discuss the matter on Monday (28 October) and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

Story by Lauretta Roberts

Picture: Johnson - met with GPMU