Engagement Zone at the Lord Mayor’s Show

Print Solutions

At the suggestion of alderman Peter Estlin the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of London, the Lord Mayor's Show this year featured an Engagement Zone which was set up near his official residence, Mansion House. This new initiative, which was inspired by last summer's Apprentice 18 event at Ravensbourne University, featured a number of exhibitors including four – Paragon, Pearson, Parkside Flexibles and BPIF with the St Bride Foundation – under the aegis of the Stationers' Company. Organised by past master Helen Esmonde, chairman of the Stationers’ Education Committee, the exhibition anticipated Apprentice 19 which will take place at Guildhall in the City of London on 18 and 19 June 2019.

A steady flow of visitors learned from Paragon about the wide range of printing’s impact in so many areas of commerce and viewed Pearson's extensive range of educational materials. Parkside introduced visitors to compostable packaging and the St Bride Foundation with the BPIF took them from historic, traditional printing through to 3D printing.

This was a great opportunity to spread the word about the importance of the communications and content industry and it was heartening to see people taking such a lively interest. At the end of his very busy day the Lord Mayor visited and spoke with all the exhibitors. He went on to say, ‘I was absolutely delighted to visit the inaugural Festival Zone hosted by Bloomberg during the Lord Mayor's Show. In particular, the Worshipful Company of Stationers, led by past master Helen Esmonde, displayed a fantastic array of innovative and sustainable packaging and printing products. David Allan, master of the Stationers’ Company and I were given hands-on experience of the products and the companies working to address environmental issues using the latest technology.’