CDI Yorkshire Day celebrations: Stationers’ Company looking to attract a more diverse membership base

A traditional livery company serving the communications industry is aiming to attract a more diverse membership base.
Trevor Fenwick speaking at the Yorkshire Day celebrations.Trevor Fenwick speaking at the Yorkshire Day celebrations.
Trevor Fenwick speaking at the Yorkshire Day celebrations.

Trevor Fenwick, the new Master of the Stationers’ Company, said the organisation has had a push towards greater diversity but wants to do more to better reflect the industries it represents.

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He told The Yorkshire Post: “We’ve improved the gender diversity, almost half of new members now are not men, but we need to improve other forms of diversity and we’re working on that. It needs to be more representative of the industries that we’re in.”

Mr Fenwick, who runs data publishing business Euromonitor, has been imvolved with the livery company for 10 years.

Around 10 per cent of the Stationers’ Company’s members are from the North of England with a further 5 per cent coming from Scotland. It has in total around 1,000 members.

The organisation is doing more to encourage younger people to get involved.

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“As a livery you traditionally attract people who are in the latter stages of their career,” Mr Fenwick said.

However, he added that initiatives such as bursaries for postgraduate students and partnering with organisations such as the Printing Charity are helping it shake off that image.

The Yorkshire Day event last week hosted over 80 people from the print, creative and digital industries.

Liveryman Robert McClements, who is also president of CDI, said: “These occasions help spread the word of the achievements and opportunities offered by the Stationers’ Company.”

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Lewis James Houghton, a freelance illustrator, was presented with the Victor Watson Trophy, which recognises outstanding achievements by a young person in the industry.

Now into its fourth year, the award was presented by John Watson OBE, whose late brother the trophy is named after.

Mr McClements also revealed that CDI’s next Visual Media Conference will take place on April 7.

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