Scottish Print Apprentice of the Year crowned

Ines Hiu Wai Law from label printer, Spirit Labels, has been named the Apprentice of the Year at Print Scotland’s tenth annual Scottish Print Apprentice of the Year awards.

Ines, who is in the final stage of her two-year apprenticeship at the Renfrew-based label printer, was born in Hong Kong and raised in Glasgow from the age of eight, graduating in 2022 from the University of Glasgow with a masters in Product Design Engineering.

After joining Spirit Labels with no prior print experience, Ines immersed herself in the technical and design aspects of the craft, with her employer, Laura Roy, praising her as "exceptional" and "remarkable." Roy noted that Ines has become a go-to person for many tasks inside the business despite being an apprentice.

Jim McKenzie, Print Scotland’s training officer, called Ines “a standout and one of the best apprentices we have ever had". McKenszie adds: "Her success also highlights a positive trend of more women entering the sector, with Spirit Labels currently employing four women.”

Ines, who lives in Darnley on Glasgow’s Southside, says: “I’m very honoured to be recognised for my work with Spirit Labels and to have had the opportunity to design and produce a lot of in-house branding and labelling using Adobe software.

“Seeing my work through from inception to print and then put in place by our customers makes me feel very proud. There are lots of technological developments coming through in the print industry and it is an exciting time to be here.”

Speaking about her plans for the future, Ines adds: “My aim is to continue developing my skills while loving the practical element of assignment work I get to undertake which is much more satisfying that the theoretical element you learn at university.”

Other awards handed included Press Apprentice of the Year, which was won by 21-year-old Aidan Rogan from CCL Design of East Kilbride, who chose to enter the print industry after two years working as plumbing apprentice.

The Mentor of the Year award was given to Rogan’s mentor, CCL Design’s Steven McKnight, who has 20 years of experience in digital print. He says: “I greatly enjoy my mentoring role. Aidan has the right attitude and really enjoys his work; digital operations really appeal to the younger generation.”

The Post-Press Apprentice award winner was 18-year-old Logan Van Beuge, who works at Glasgow-based Push Print. The former pupil of Our Lady & St. Patrick’s High School in Dumbarton is one year into his apprenticeship.

The Pre-Press Apprentice of the Year was Riley MacRae Duffy of CX Services in Dunoon.

Print Scotland provides a range of apprenticeship and training opportunities through the Scottish Training Scheme, which provides a grant from the Scottish government to cover the cost of the training. It also provides a range of Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) as well as Modern Apprenticeship (MA) certification.

Garry Richmond, director of Print Scotland, says: “With this new stream of print apprentices present today we can be cautiously optimistic about the future of our industry.

“The print sector has significantly enhanced its support for apprentices in recent years and is definitely seeing the benefit of this forward-looking approach for employers and individuals. We urge the Scottish government and its agencies to reinforce our success by continuing to invest significantly to allow us to create more opportunities for our young people.”

Sponsors of the awards included Antalis, Muller Martini, CCL Design, and Elliot Baxter and Co (EBB).