Our 182nd Annual Luncheon at Stationers’ Hall was sold out

Over 200 people from the printing, publishing, graphic arts and allied trades filled the Grand Hall at Stationers’ Hall in on 5 November for our 182nd annual fundraising luncheon.

Sly Bailey, Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror plc, proved a major drawcard as our guest speaker.

She entertained the audience with epithets ascribed to her by the media, from ‘flashing blades’ at senior executives to turning into ‘axewoman’. She went on to talk about her early days in the industry and how she rose to head a major plc.

Pictured LtoR: Michael Johnson, Sly Bailey, Paul Rudd

On the subject of ‘The Printed Word’, Sly argued that despite challenging times for traditional media, it is not a case of ‘old’ media versus ‘new’ media or print versus digital. Today’s technology is an opportunity to build a multi-platform media business incorporating online, print and mobile. Sly ended by raising an issue facing today’s publishing industry - the growing conflict between the press’s freedom of expression and the individual’s right to privacy. 

At the event, Paul Rudd, our Chairman, unveiled our new name and logo to be launched in early 2010. He also announced that Michael Johnson, Chief Executive of the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) will be our President for the second year running, in recognition of his outstanding achievements on our behalf.

Michael says: “It’s a great honour to be your President for a second year. I’ll continue to build on the excellent work being done by everyone at the PCC to increase the number of people the charity helps year-on-year.”

“We’re absolutely delighted with the turnout from the industry this year and would like to thank everyone for helping us raise over £2,000 from the raffle,” adds Stephen Gilbert, our Chief Executive. “This is our major fundraising event each year to support our work helping people with a print connection, who are experiencing hardship.”