McAllister Litho Glasgow has taken on four apprentices to bolster a production team of 50.
The commercial printer aims to take on an apprentice each year, this year increasing that to four. Three will be trained in all aspects of finishing while the fourth becomes a press operator.
The four were selected by Brian McAllister while his wife and managing director, Janette McAllister, was laid up with a leg injury. All started at the company on the north bank of the Clyde last week.
“They will be trained by some of the best and most experienced operators in the business who have a wealth of knowledge to pass on,” says the managing director. “Some of these guys actually started as an apprentice in our business themselves and remain with us today.
“There is a real skill shortage throughout many industries today. We have taken the decision to recruit and train apprentices for this very reason. Annually we take on one apprentice but looking at the current trend of finding good quality skilled staff it was a no brainer to take on more apprentices, to bring fresh blood into the industry and pass on the skills our team have.”
The company has a presence with local schools thanks to being a registered provider under the school work experience programme, which brings several young people through to get a taste of working in print across sales and customer service, prepress, the press hall, finishing, warehouse, administration and accounts.
There is also a close working relationship with two of Scotland’s higher education establishments, James Watt College and Glasgow School of Art, which leads to open days for design and media students to see close up the printing equipment and production process, followed by a Q&A session.
The new group of finishing apprentices will gain SVQ certificates at the end of their training. It will cover folding, stitching, guillotine and lamination. The print apprentice also follows a structured programme, beginning as an operator on its single-colour GTO and then five-colour Printmaster 52.
