Speaking at press manufacturer Edale’s open house event yesterday, Bambery said that the success of the print sector in previous decades could be attributed to SMEs with owners who were not afraid to take risks.

He added: "As soon as these businesses were taken over by large groups, processes and structures were introduced that made things difficult.

"The big groups that were around in the 1980s, which were the Tesco and Sainsbury’s of the print sector are no longer with us – because companies can get too big and fail. However, SME printers have the flexibility to change, adapt and meet the challenges going forward."

Bambery, who took up his position as chairman of BPIF Labels in December 2010, said of his plans for the trade association: "The first thing I did at the BPIF was to get them to change the membership criteria; there is now graded membership for member companies, non-members and suppliers.

"I want BPIF Labels to try to replicate the VskE foundation in Germany, which is a very successful self-adhesive label trade association. We now have all of the major laminate manufacturers and label press manufacturers as members, along with HP Indigo and Domino."

Bambery said BPIF Labels plans to hold two technical seminars per year and publish guidance for the industry on current issues.

"We are getting the organisation back to what it should be, which is a resource that can help with issues that its members are facing.

"We will be holding one seminar – a post-Drupa update in May and another one in October, and we will be guided by our members on what they want us to address. We have also published a document on recycling, which we will be launching soon, and we will be putting together another brochure on ink migration for food packaging."

Bambery added of his plans to boost the organisation’s membership: "People are now starting to realise that trade associations do actually do something; networking and face-to-face contact is crucial in trying to solve problems collectively and we need to have an organisation that can disseminate information on issues like the environment."

Edale celebrated the opening of its fourth facility at its open house yesterday, with head of sales and marketing Jeremy Westcott predicting that 2012 will be a good year for the manufacturer, which specialises in narrow web flexographic presses.

Westcott said: "We had a huge amount of enquiries at Label Expo about our new FL-350 press and we are currently building our third, with the second due to be installed at a company in the north-east in May."

Westcott declined to name which company had invested in the FL-350, but said it was large manufacturer that is bringing print in-house.