Celebrations at House of Lords for Rising Stars

Industry members and the industry’s next generation of Rising Stars gathered at The House of Lords yesterday (July 4th) to celebrate this year’s winners.

No risk of being overshadowed by certain political events taking place, the evening was hosted by Printing Charity 2024 President Baroness Morgan of Coates, and celebrated the 61 Rising Star Award winners of 2024.

As always, the awards attracted entrants from across the industry including paper, packaging, graphics, and publishing. This year, almost £84,000 will be awarded by the charity across 105 courses selected by the winners. 

Showcasing the diverse range of roles within the industry, this year’s winners spanned 50 different positions from print operatives, HR professionals, and security officers to print makers, bend hand team leaders, and analysts.

Addressing the room just before the awards were distributed, Neil Lovell, CEO of The Printing Charity, said: “The Rising Star Awards act as a bellwether for the industry, with the courses applied for often indicating print’s direction of travel, with ambitious, committed emerging talent looking to develop the skillsets they know will help them grow in their careers.

“These courses may be diverse, but they clearly indicate what our winners have in common: the drive to build their skills and capabilities to equip themselves well for the industry and the workplace of the future. The future is clearly bright.”

The growing diversity in the industry was also highlighted in the fact that over 50% of entrants this year were female. 

Core Skills Training:

Alberto Alfaro Lopez of Summit Creative

Ben Stewardson of Allen Signs

Benjamin Bowden of Reach Printing Services PLC

Cayla Blandin de Chalain of Amberley Labels

Chloe Johnson of Liverpool University Press

Daniel Greyson of Roberts Mart & Co

Ella Tomkins of Hachette Children’s Group

Isabel Shanahan of Imageco

Kyle Walker of Data Image Group

Kyle Wright of Signs Express

Maria Victoria Velasco Sanchez of Imagine Learning Studios UK

Oliver Gilligan of Propack Direct Mail

Thomas Barrie of Authentix Security Print Solutions

Training from Professional Bodies:

Abbie Golland of eProductivity Software (ePS)

Abbie Wagstaff of Signs Express

Beth Raven of Coveris UK Paper

Bethany Connolly-Atkins of Xaar plc

Callum Flynn of Bluetree Group

Callum Richardson of Bluetree Group

Craig McKerchar of Floris Books

Elle Brenton-Rounding of Hearst UK 

Fraser Smith of Edward Elgar Publishing

Georgia Kelly of Paragon Customer Communications

Hennah Sandhu of Hachette UK

James Bennett of Bluetree Group

James Tullett of Kimberly-Clark

Lexi Bickell of HarperCollins Publishers 

Lucy Kay of Paragon Customer Communications

Michaela O’Callaghan of Bounce Sales and Marketing

Rhian Davies of Manchester University Press

Taylor Holland of CPI UK

Professional Skills and Development Training:

Abigail Somers of Bloomsbury Publishing

Bobby Yaman of Reach Printing Services PLC

Carys Vickers of New Writing North 

Chace Vaughan of Roberts Mart & Co 

Cherrelle Wright of Citipost Mail

Diyora Shadijanova, freelance writer and journalist 

Ella Drayton of Precision Proco Group

Gabriel Connor of Westrock

Jack Boswell of Paragon Customer Communications

Jacob Morton of Roberts Mart & Co

Melissa Clay of McLaren Packaging/Compack

Mohammad Abdul Zameer Pasha of Transcend Packaging

Natassja Drobinski of The University of Sheffield 

Simone dos Santos of Cengage

Sonja Burniston of Blue Roll Press 

Leadership and Management Training:

Adam Whiting of Offset Print and Packaging

Alexia Bush of Citipost Mail

Carl Hester of Reach Printing Services PLC

Connor Lonsdale of Coveris UK Paper

Eden Blankley of Qualvis Print & Packaging

Emma Reynolds of Harkwell Labels

Giulia Caparrelli of Bonnier Books

Jake Raynor of Roberts Mart & Co

Jessica Wallace of Citipost Mail

Lori-May Straw of Citipost Mail

Peter Scott of Reach Printing Services PLC

Richard Amos of Precision Proco Group

Ronan McKechnie of CPI UK

Sophie Keech of All Vision

Tori Kendrick of Signs Express