PrintIT! has today announced that Wayne Barlow, Director-Professional Print of Canon UK has been named as the new Chairman of PrintIT! Wayne takes over the chairmanship from George Clarke, Managing Director of Heidelberg UK and President of Ipex 2010, who has held the post for the past year. The handover took place at a special sponsors and supporters reception, held after the PrintIT! Awards Ceremony during Ipex 2010.
Canon UK has been a sponsor of PrintIT! since its inception back in 2005, and in addition to the ongoing support of his organisation, Wayne is passionate about the cause of attracting creative young talent to the industry, and is keen to lend his own personal commitment to the future success of the project.
Wayne Barlow himself admits he has some ‘big boots to fill’, taking over as Chairman from George Clarke and comments, “I have strongly admired the achievements of PrintIT! over the past five years, and now more than ever, we need to come together in arms to continue to support this initiative and ensure it continues to evolve into something even greater. Every printer and print-related business in the UK has a role to play in PrintIT!, and I want to encourage everyone not only to get behind PrintIT!, but to play an active role in its future - to find an industry friend, partner or customer and get them signed up to the Twinning Programme and interacting with their local participating school.”
He continues, “If the industry in the UK is to survive and maintain its competitive edge in the future, we need to look to this exciting talent pool and encourage these youngsters to channel their abilities into a career in print, be it technical, creative or even sales and commercial related areas. We only have to look back at some of the greatest inventions of the 21st century, namely the internet, email and social media, to see the impact that such creative young talent can have on business.”
Wayne also used the Ipex Awards Ceremony to present the overall winner of PrintIT! 2010, Daniel Smith from St Ives School in Cornwall, with an expenses paid, overnight trip to Paris in the Autumn, to attend Canon Expo 2010 courtesy of Canon UK. Daniel, will be accompanied by a teacher, parent, Best Twinner, Vario Print and a representative from Proskills, to attend the show which takes place every five years, and ‘take a look into the future of imaging’ by seeing the Canon’s future technologies covering medical, broadcasting, consumer, business and print related solutions
“We’re delighted that Wayne has accepted the role of Chairman of PrintIT!, adds Terry Watts, Chief Executive of Proskills. “Wayne’s continued support of the initiative, and his personal drive and passion will give a tremendous boost and momentum to PrintIT! as he lends a positive voice of encouragement to the industry to come on board. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank George Clarke for all his work over the past year. And, once again, I want to reiterate our thanks to the whole industry for its continued support, especially during some challenging times, and look forward to planning our sixth successive PrintIT! competition for the forthcoming academic year.”
