Rising Stars

Aaron started at creative production company BCQ Group in 2016 as part of a BPIF NVQ Apprenticeship, specialising in Pre-Press. His Rising Star award will be spent on three courses designed to boost his HTML, JavaScript and management skills, creating a skillset suite to benefit his personal learning and support his career ambitions. He hopes that this training will take his automation skills to the next level and enable him to take on more responsibility

Stephen McAulay is in the second year of his apprenticeship with WestRock, working with the quality team but also across the other areas of the business such as quality auditing and working on job specification with the technical team. His award will fund the Elite: Prince 2 Project Management Foundation and Practitioner course and he will also complete FIA UK Academy training courses. Through the learnings from this course suite he hopes to progress to a more senior role and extend his ability to contribute to the wider industry.

Darryl started his print career at the age of 16 and worked at both Anton and Sainsbury’s before joining Webmart. He will be taking the ICS Learn: ILM Level 3 Certificate in Leadership and Management with his Rising Star Award. He hopes that the additional learning gained through this course will help him build his wider knowledge while continuing to build experience within the print industry, enabling him to manage his own team in the future and become more confident when presenting.

Gabriela started at Eight Days a Week Print Solutions as an agency worker, joining the production team before taking up her current role as trainee account manager. Her award will be invested in personal development through courses on Communication Skills at Work, Customer Service Excellence, Assertiveness and Personal Effectiveness, Intermediate Excel and Time Management. She wants to use these new skills to hone her abilities as an account manager, combining this with her production knowledge to identify the most effective ways to ensure a swift and efficient process flow.

Taylor had worked in retail for eight years before joining the print industry in 2021. His Rising Star Award will fund two courses in Online Sales Training and Online & In-House Key Account Development Strategies, building his learning to help him perform effectively and focus on his long-term goal of becoming a sales manager. He hopes to be able to take on more responsibility within the industry and become a key team member using the skills he learns.