Levi Lindsey wins PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year

AUCKLAND, Today: At the 2024 Pride In Print Awards gala, MCC Auckland’s flexographic printer Levi Lindsey was named BJ Ball Papers Print Apprentice of the Year.

In front of an engaged industry audience, hosted by the charming Hilary Barry at Wellington’s TĀKINA Events, PrintNZ chief executive Ruth Cobb built the suspense before revealing the well-deserved winner.

“This truly is the highlight of my job – recognising the people that will be the future of our industry and the businesses that encourage them,” said Ms Cobb.

“Some, uninformed, people might say ‘you don’t need skill to be a printer anymore’ – but there is a lot more to print than an ‘on’ and ‘off’ switch! If we are going to continue to stretch the boundaries and ‘wow’ our customers, we need to continue to master the dynamics of inks, substrates, colour management and finishing, to say nothing of the complexities of the front end.”

The final decision on the Apprentice of the Year – which was closely contested by George Cunningham (Allied Press), Anna Hodge (Be My Guest Design), Amit Shankar (Labelmakers) and Kathryn Wheeler (Freedom Plus) – followed final interviews earlier on the day of the Awards Evening.

“They were all so passionate. Every one of them spoke with such technical detail about the work they brought along – highlighting again that print is a craft. A comment from one of them today summed this up when they said ‘the fundamentals only get you so far’.

“And a point to note about this particular group of people, who all graduated last year, is they pretty much completed their entire apprenticeship under the auspices of COVID and the disruptions that brought to workplaces, families and businesses.

“This truly is the highlight of my job – recognising the people that will be the future of our industry and the businesses that encourage them.” – Ruth Cobb

“I know this is just the beginning of their journeys – the learning does not stop here. They all have aspirations to go further and do more and we are so glad they are doing that in our industry.”

Mr Lindsey, whom Ms Cobb graciously acknowledged had missed his son’s fifth Birthday to attend the ceremony (unbeknownst to the outcome), said he was “truly honoured” upon receiving the award on stage.

“I want to thank MCC Auckland, formerly known as Adhesif Labels, my colleagues and my mentors for their unwavering support and guidance – this achievement is a testament to their dedication and belief in me,” he said.

“To my fellow apprentices – keep striving for excellence and never stop learning. Together, we can shape the future of the industry.”

MCC Auckland technical manager Haydn Mitchell expressed pride – but not surprise – in Mr Lindsey’s achievement.

“Levi’s first role at Adhesif Labels was working in our post-press cleaning area,” he said.

“Having shown a keen interest in printing, he progressed to the role of flexo printer assistant. Having excelled at this he was offered a flexo printing apprenticeship.

“His proactive approach, combined with consistently delivering top-notch quality work and keeping that positive attitude, speaks volumes about his dedication and work ethic.

“I was not surprised at all to see Levi excel in his apprenticeship. With his commitment and upbeat demeanour, it was pretty much a given.”