Colour Printer Further Invests In Young Talent

Edited by the Printingtalk editorial team Mar 15, 2006

Five young apprentices at Statexcolourprint are well on their way to becoming fully qualified printers and print finishers.

Five young apprentices at Statexcolourprint are well on their way to becoming fully qualified printers and print finishers.

Amongst the youngsters are Alistair Charlton (20) and Jonathan Harvey (25) who both joined the company as printer's assistants - the entry level position in the print room.

They have both progressed to apprentice printers and are now undergoing professional training from Heidelberg on a new printing press, recently acquired by the company.

Sue Charlton, finance director at Statex and head of human resources, explained: "There is a shortage of good, qualified people in the print industry, particularly amongst the younger generation.

These youngsters are great to work with because they're bright and eager to learn." She continued: "It is a big commitment on our behalf to put apprentice printers on such a new piece of equipment, but it shows how serious we are about training our staff.

And we see it as investing not only in Statex, but in the print industry as a whole.

We also currently have two office-based apprentices working towards recognised qualifications." NVQ training in print and production at Statex is mainly lead by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF).

One of the company's business objectives is to have all staff trained and qualified to a minimum of NVQ level 2.

Other apprentices include Debbie Harding (18), Shaun Dinning (18) and David Craggs (21) who are training in the finishing department.

Alistair Charlton, commenting on his apprenticeship, said: "It really is quite a privilege to be working on such a new and modern piece of equipment." Statex has a strong company ethos of investing in its people and aims to provide employees with the opportunity to develop both professionally and personally.

In the last 12 months, 12 members of staff have all successfully completed recognised qualifications.