Business | Knowledge
SHOW AND TELL IN JULY THE SIMPSON GROUP TOOK PART IN AN EVENT IN NEWCASTLE CALLED STEMFEST NET ZERO, WHERE LOCAL BUSINESSES WERE INVITED TO ENGAGE WITH MORE THAN 3,000 YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE REGION’S SCHOOLS VIA FUN, HANDS-ON SESSIONS RELATING TO THEIR INDUSTRIES AND THEIR NET ZERO GOALS. IT’S JUST ONE MANY INITIATIVES THE GROUP IS INVOLVED IN AS IT PLAYS ITS PART IN MAKING PRINT A MORE OBVIOUS CAREER CHOICE. DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR SARAH TISHLER EXPLAINS. How proactive are you in ‘selling’ print - as a career? Perhaps not as much as the industry needs you to be. As Simpson Group development director Sarah Tishler reiterates, “the average age in the print industry is currently 43 years old - according BPIF stats. You may find it’s even higher in your own business.” We know the situation all too well, but in Tishler’s words: “It would appear a whole generation has fallen out of love with print, potentially seeing it as messy and
22 | August / September 2022
unsustainable compared to smart phones and digital screens, or just generally adding to the environmental woes of the world we live in. “What is more worrying, is that many of the school pupils I am in contact with are not even aware that the print industry exists. There is no connection made between their Happy Meal box, football programme or advertising hoardings for the latest must-have trainers to the versatile and engaging industry we work in. “Not only do we, as an industry need to be more proactive in selling the exciting products that we produce, but we need to connect with the youth - and now is the time that the schools around you will welcome your support and interest with open arms, as they grapple to fulfil their Gatsby Benchmarks requirements of good career guidance [these are: having a stable careers programme, learning from career and labour market information, addressing the needs of each pupil, linking curriculum learning to careers, encounters with employers and employees, experiences of workplaces, encounters with further and higher education, and personal guidance] and comply with the Baker Clause [introduced as an amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017, the clause stipulates that schools must allow colleges and training providers access to every student in
