Browse our clientsProskills, the Sector Skills Council for the process and manufacturing industries, has announced that Tony Lock, Managing Director of Duplo UK, is the new Chairman of PrintIT!. He takes over from Wayne Barlow, Director Professional Print of Canon UK, who took on the baton from Heidelberg’s George Clarke last year. The official handover took place during the PrintIT! 2011 Awards Ceremony on the last day of Northprint 2011.
“When I became Chairman of PrintIT! the printing and paper industries were still facing a tough road ahead and the PrintIT! initiative was coming under a lot of scrutiny,” says Wayne Barlow. “However, I wanted to face the challenges and stand up for what I believe is a very worthwhile cause and I felt passionately about the concept behind PrintIT!. My aim was to provide credibility and reach across all sectors of the industry for PrintIT! and the students.
“Personally, it’s been a fantastic year, during which I’ve enjoyed immensely working with the PrintIT! team. Tom Bowtell, Deputy CEO of Proskills is an inspirational leader who has been a pleasure to work alongside. I’ve also been humbled during this period by the determination and drive of the students themselves, who have at times shown an almost pioneering spirit in their involvement in PrintIT!
“In handing over to Tony, I know that PrintIT!’s new Chairman will bring an extremely high level of enthusiasm and energy to the task in hand, along with many fresh ideas,” says Wayne Barlow. “I’m secretly envious of him and I wish him all the very best in his new position.”
Tony Lock adds: ‘It’s a privilege to be offered the role of PrintIT! Chairman and I’m delighted to be taking on this challenge. And it is a challenge because PrintIT! is so important to the future of our industry. Print is under attack ... from new electronic technologies, from misleading environmental messages, from an economy that always hits print hard when times are tough.
“Part of our job at PrintIT! is to demonstrate to the students of today that the print and paper industries offer exciting jobs for them tomorrow, that it is not a dying craft but remains a vital element of the marketing communications mix, and that managed correctly it is a sustainable industry that is beneficial to the environment. Print is changing drastically and while it is shrinking in some areas, it’s expanding in others, but have no doubt about it, print will always be around.
“One of my initial priorities is to get the message across to UK printers, regardless of their size, that twinning with a local school provides all sorts of potential benefits – short and long term,” says Tony Lock. “This is rather a call to action - your industry needs you! The PrintIT! team will be on hand to help and there is no reason at all to have reservations. Your local school is part of the community that you serve, a potential customer for today and a source of employees for the future. Get them on board.”
The twinning scheme forms an integral part of PrintIT! and involves schools being given a link (subject to availability) to a local employer in the industry such as a printer, paper manufacturer/mill or related company. The extent of the twinning can be agreed by the school and the employer and may include a visit to the school by a company representative to discuss a particular project or a visit by a class to the company’s premises.
Proskills offers a PrintIT! Twinning Pack that will provide printers with all the information they need to find a local school that can become its ‘twin’. To get involved with PrintIT!, and to help promote yourself and the UK printing industry, visit www.printit.org.uk and click on the "Employers Register for Twinning" button.
The PrintIT! initiative has grown significantly in recent years, and Tom Bowtell said Wayne Barlow had played a significant part in its success. “On behalf of Proskills I’d like to thank Wayne Barlow for his outstanding contribution to PrintIT! and I look forward to helping Tony Lock settle in and build on Wayne’s excellent work.’
