Dalkeith apprentice picks up national print industry award

A Midlothian man was one of the four Scottish print industry apprentices honoured at the sector’s recent Apprentice of the Year Awards.

Print Scotland, the trade association and voice of Scotland’s graphic communication industry, awarded four outstanding young apprentices at its seventh annual Scottish Print Apprentice of the Year awards.

Craig Knight of the FLB Group, Dalkeith, was named Post Press Apprentice of the Year. A highlight of his apprenticeship has been working with and learning from experienced operators.

He said: “One of the most important things is to have close attention to detail to produce our products to the required standard. I particularly remember being proud of the fact that I had the opportunity of working on jobs produced for Harrods, the internationally known department store in London.

Craig Knight (right) from FLB Group with print trainer Jim McKenzie.

“My ambition is to continue learning my trade and to progress within my role. And I would recommend a printing apprenticeship to others. It is a good industry to work in and very interesting to see all the processes involved in producing printed products.”

The awards is part of Print Scotland’s mission to represent the Scottish print community and to highlight the profile of future leaders of the industry. Director Garry Richmond said: “We continue to believe that the industry needs to employ more apprentices to sustain Scotland’s print sector. Our approach includes doing so by encouraging more apprentices from an increasingly diverse range of backgrounds.

“These awards recognise outstanding achievement amongst the young people who represent the next generation of our leaders of Scotland’s print sector.

“Print Scotland’s sincere thanks goes, once again, to our sponsors David McGinlay of Muller Martini and Stephen Paul of Antalis for supplying the prizes.

Craig Knight (right) from FLB Group with production director Scott Ness.

“I should also like once again to express our debt of gratitude to Jim McKenzie of Ultimate Learning Solutions who has done a tremendous job in his new role as Assessor of the Apprenticeship Awards programme.”

Jim said: "It is a great pleasure to be involved in the work-based learning apprenticeship scheme which sees young people learning trade and core skills that will stand by them for life."

Susan Graham, Print Scotland’s president, congratulated the winners and wished them highly successful careers as the industry’s leaders of tomorrow.

She said: “Once again, we salute these outstanding young print apprentices and continue to celebrate their achievements in acquiring future-proof skills to take Scotland’s print industry forward.

“The print industry in Scotland has a real future across a range of skill-sets and needs a constant flow of high-quality and motivated apprentices in even greater numbers, and from an increasingly diverse range of backgrounds, to fulfil its potential.”

Print Scotland provides training for Modern Apprentices through the Scottish Training Scheme, which provides a grant from the Scottish Government to cover the cost of the training. It also provides a range of Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) as well as Modern Apprenticeship (MA) certification.