Print Scotland’s award success for former Woodfarm High School pupil

James McCredie (23) is a Post Press operator for Bell & Bain, one of Scotland’s largest and oldest independent UK books, journal printers and binders.

He is now about to enter the fourth year of his apprenticeship and staying in the print industry is his aim.

James was surprised to win. He describes working at Bell and Bain as “hard work and there are no easy days in the business, but I enjoy it.”

The award category relates to post pressing work, namely mechanised print finishing.

The award was sponsored by Muller Martini ,and James was rewarded with a Samsung tablet and £100 of Amazon vouchers.

James Vallance, training consultant at Print Scotland, said: “James’s sterling efforts in getting to grips with the challenges of a rewarding career in the modern print industry have been rightly rewarded.

“His family and friends can be very proud of his achievements. The print industry in Scotland is demonstrating slow but steady signs of growth year-on-year, and nowhere shows this more than in apprenticeships.

“Already this year our members have taken on 20 per cent more apprentices than last year.”

Garry Richmond, director of Print Scotland, said: “Our members, and the industry generally, face a significant succession gap in the next ten years, as highly-skilled and knowledgeable printers set on retiring are not being replaced in sufficient volume with new blood.

“The print industry in Scotland needs a constant flow of apprentices to prevent that, and the high-calibre young people we have celebrated today, in even greater numbers, is very much what our industry needs.”