Geneve Gurr, an apprentice at Cambridge-based MacroArt, has won Learn2print’s 2023 Apprentice of the Year award which celebrates the dedication and hard work of young individuals involved in an apprenticeship scheme.

Working in partnership with Learn2print, MacroArt’s apprenticeship scheme aims to future-proof the industry by targeting young people to try and get them involved in print.

As confirmation of the scheme’s success to date, Ms Gurr was unanimously nominated by six tutors at the end of December 2023 to win the award. Lee Garnett, manager at MacroArt, commented on Ms Gurr’s commitment to the programme as a reason for her success, telling Digital Printer, ‘When we are looking to give out an award, we look for the right attitude and willingness to learn, Geneve went way above our expectations on that. Her passion and dedication were unbelievable.

‘What Geneve achieved through a six-month period was phenomenal and that’s why she outshone everybody else. Geneve’s certainly set the bar very high for everyone else, going forward.’

Ms Gurr said she was ‘surprised’ and ‘delighted’ to win the award, as she reflected on not knowing where the journey could take her when she joined MacroArt in 2021. Not content with the recent success, she is looking towards the future as she aims to progress further.

‘I just want to continue developing my knowledge of the industry,’ she said. ‘Whilst working alongside the large format digital printers and what we do I’ve got interests in other aspects. There’s so much going on within the industry and I want to continue working on my skill set for whatever might come in the future.’

The award is now sponsored by Heidelberg which has recognised the importance of bringing in apprentices to the industry. As explained by Jonathan Bray, managing director of Learn2print, it ‘has really become a highly recognised and prestigious award;’ a view agreed with by Mr Garnett. He added, ‘It’s a prestigious award, it’s UK-based and UK-wide.Geneve’ has smashed it out of the park there, because Learn2print deals with lots of different businesses across all platforms of print.’

Speaking on the value of the scheme, Ms Gurr provided her insight into its benefits. ‘I think apprenticeships are suited to people that haven’t gone on to university and are more practical people,’ she said. ‘I think at school you realise if you’re built for an apprenticeship or further education. By taking younger people when they come out of school, it gives them a good work ethic right when they leave. They get to learn about the discipline of coming into a work environment and working as a team.’

She further commented, ‘You can only gain from it really. You learn new skills, knowledge, behaviours, and earn a qualification. There’s so much to give to a young person coming out of school.’