The British Government has approved the BPIF-led bid to establish a Print Industry Forum dedicated to improving competitiveness in the industry. It will provide nearly £3M worth of funding towards the total of £5.5M for the forum during its first five years of operation. The balance will be generated from the industry, through the time offered by participating companies and fees from the competitiveness improvement programmes the forum will run.

Industry organizations backing the forum include the BPIF, Pira, Picon, and EFTA. Industry Forums already exist in a range of other sectors, and packaging looks set to follow suit (see lead story).

The new forum’s first priority will be to recruit a chief executive and a small team of specialists to develop and manage programmes in print process improvement, customer value enhancement and team leader training. A number of early research and development activities are planned, and printers, their customers and suppliers will be consulted on the forum’s priorities and work programme.

More from the BPIF on +44 (0)171 242 6904.