The UK’s Flexographic Industry Association (FIA) has appointed a Shadow Board, comprised of young flexo industry members, aged between 25 and 35, that it hopes will further the goal of encouraging young talent into the flexo sector.
Mirroring the main FIA board, the Shadow Board will provide the young flexo professionals with a voice on the future of the industry and provide a younger viewpoint on communication going forward. It will be responsible for driving and managing key projects that align with the long-term goals of the flexo sector, and will feed into the main FIA board.
“The flexo industry, as well as the wider printing and packaging industry, is facing a real challenge in attracting the next generation of professionals,” said Debbie Waldron-Hoines, consultant CEO of the Board. “As a result, we see ‘brain drain’; a lot of our legacy knowledge and hard-won expertise naturally ageing out of the workforce. Of course, we know the flexographic industry as an exciting, dynamic and advanced sector – but typically, we have not communicated that very well and now see a real shortfall in people joining the industry.
“By appointing a Shadow Board comprising individuals aged 25-35, we are further playing our part in securing the future of flexo, guiding its ongoing momentum and replenishing the talent pool. For us, it is about giving young flexographic printing professionals a voice and seeing challenges through their lens. They are the future of the industry, so naturally we want to give them hands-on experience of long-term industry projects with real weight and get their perspective on how we can build a stronger talent attraction and retention pipeline.”
Companies represented on the Shadow Board include staff from Sun Chemical, Smurfit Kappa, Siegwerk, Sandon Global, Absolute Engineering and Nelipak.
Caption: Board members (from left): Sam Niebel (Absolute Engineering), Alisha Hedges (Sandon Global), Luke Chadbourne (Siegwerk), Grace Stenson (Smurfit Kappa), Josh Owen (Nelipak), and Donall Burns (Sun Chemical).
