Design

London packaging printers can access a £558,000 training fund from PrintLondon, a funding partnership formed by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) and the London Development Agency (LDA).

Companies that take advantage of the scheme have to match any funding provided and can choose from courses run by Vision in Print (ViP), BPIF Business or other institutions offering print-related courses.

However, some print companies are unaware of the scheme’s existence or think they are too small to invest in the business development or staff training courses.

Baker Self-Adhesive Labels managing director Steve Baker said he did not know about the PrintLondon funding. He said: “With us, there are bits and pieces of training that go on but it’s on an as-and-when basis.

I didn’t know about the PrintLondon funding and am not sure if it would be useful to us.”

However, Roger Severn, managing director of Wimbledon-based commercial and packaging printer Aquatint BSC, was upbeat about the initiative.

He said: “We were already taking up ViP courses, which are helping us to change the way we operate,
so we will certainly take advantage of the PrintLondon funding for that.

“Apart from anything else, the funding available to the London fringe will be useful for training some of the younger members of staff.”

SME printers can train in business, product and service development, best practice in health, safety and environmental management, and human resource skills.

BPIF South East regional director Chris Patefield has been appointed as director of the new scheme, and Gillian Reid-Robbins, head of BPIF Business, can be contacted for course details.

For more information visit www.printlondon.org or phone 020 7915 8345.