BPIF skills fund is first step towards a brighter future

It's difficult to see a downside to the news that the BPIF has won over 1m to offer free management training to the print industry.

With the industry going through a level of structural change not seen for decades, the need for high-level training to better equip the sector’s managers to rise to new challenges, has never been greater. Not just in terms of the current cohort of industry leaders, but, perhaps even more importantly, the managers of tomorrow.

Over the past few years, the availability of industry-specific training has been in steep decline as colleges and training providers pull their provisions, which has severely limited the options of anyone joining the industry with a view to developing their career in print.

One of the keys to attracting the stars of tomorrow to the sector – or keeping the ones that we already have – is offering some form of career development plan – yes, an impressive salary package might lure them in, but it won’t keep them. However, a structured approach to their development, through a combination of internal and external training just might.

Of course, it won’t solve all of the industry’s ills. But it is a step in the right direction. What is needed now is the sector to embrace it and start to look beyond the depressing headlines of an industry in turmoil and focus on developing a plan for the future.

Because if we don’t start looking at arming our managers, current and future, with the skills they need for tomorrow now then we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves when we look back in 10 years time and ask where did it all go wrong.