The Transforming the Print Industry event, backed by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, is a joint venture involving Unite, the BPIF and Proskills.

It is being heralded as a watershed moment for the print industry, with the hope that it may lead to added financial help from the government.

"The government sometimes forgets print exists, manufacturing is just cars and planes to them," said Proskills chief executive Terry Watts. "But this will allow printers to talk about what they want to talk about, meet on their own terms. The challenge is for the industry to realise the opportunities that are there for it."

The event, which will take place at the Westminster Conference Centre on 3 March, will also feature print guru Ian McDonald, who was responsible for the creation of one of the world's most advanced print facilities at Broxbourne.

He said: "You forget how big the industry is. There is packaging, inkjet, paper, ink – these areas are still developing. But, if we are honest, the industry requires financial support if it is going to continue to develop."

In addition, Unite's Tony Burke is set to give a speech on skills at the event, which he said had been two years in the making.

Burke said: "We very much welcome the decision to go ahead with this event, it is something Unite has pressed for. As print comes out of the recession, we need to upskill existing employees and look to how the industry can take on more apprentices, which are its life blood."

BPIF corporate affairs director Andy Brown added: "This has not been easy to set-up, every time we get a dialogue going, the minister changes. We are focusing on change, the industry is changing fast.

"We will be talking to the minister about new technologies and processes and what print can and should deliver. It is a great opportunity to show how technologically advanced the industry is."