The initiative is part of Print Scotland’s mission to represent the Scottish print community and to highlight the profile of future leaders of the industry.

Print Scotland director Garry Richmond said: “Fighting and overcoming the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been at the heart of Scotland’s print businesses over the last 18 months. As essential workers, they have performed superbly.

“We continue to believe that the industry needs to employ more apprentices to sustain Scotland’s print sector 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.

“While we have been unable, again, to hold our usual annual Apprentice Awards as an occasion, the certificates were mailed and presented to the winners by their respective managers and mentors.”

Richmond thanked awards sponsors David McGinlay of Muller Martini and Stephen Paul of Antalis for supplying the prizes.

“I should also like to put on record our debt of gratitude to Jim McKenzie of Ultimate Learning Solutions who has done a tremendous job in rapidly getting into his new role as assessor and making a great success of it,” he added.

McKenzie said it was “a great pleasure to be involved” in the work-based learning apprenticeship scheme, which sees young people learning trade and core skills.

The winners of the 2021 Apprentice of the Year Awards were Rachel Lawrie, of FLB Group in Dalkeith, who won overall Apprentice of the Year; Jake Anderson Hogg, also of FLB Group, who won the Level 3 Post Press award; Robby McCann, of CCL Labels in East Kilbride, who took home the Level 3 Print Administration award; and Jay Findlater of Newsprinters, Eurocentral, who won the Level 3 Press award.

Print Scotland president Iain Robertson said: “Despite these highly unusual circumstances, we continue to celebrate the achievements of our young colleagues in acquiring futureproof skills to take Scotland’s print industry forward.

“Our members have demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 lockdown that print is an essential element in a civilised society. The print industry in Scotland has a real future across a range of skillsets 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.