How the LEP helped Studio Print Press take on an intern

Studio Print Press is a screen-printing facility based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, run by two Yorkshire lasses, Rae and Lisa. They specialise in branding packages which include, a full graphic design service through to digital print, screen printing and embroidery.  

Studio Print Press recently worked with the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Skills for Growth programme where we helped them take on an intern from Huddersfield University. We caught up with Rae and Lisa to hear about their experience. 

With it being International Women’s Day this week, we’ve got to ask, how does it feel to be women in business? 

We take great pride in the business we have built over the past five years, alongside juggling home and family life. With it being just the two of us, it has certainly been challenging, with added pressure to succeed in what is generally a male led industry.  

Along the way we have worked with and formed amazing relationships with other women building their own small businesses. Supporting each other on this journey has been instrumental to growing our business.   

When still in education, was there anything that inspired you to start your own business or enter this industry and what opportunities helped you get to where you are today? 

Art and design were a main focus for both of us in our education, but it was family and friends that provided inspiration later in life, to become self-employed and then to later build our own business. We were certainly never given the opportunities that Skills for Growth has to offer students.  

The Skills for Growth team have loved working with you. How did our support help your business? 

We both feel very lucky to have had just the right intern, for us, apply first time. We were looking for another female to join our team that had good design and illustration skills. With it being just the two of us, performing all daily tasks, it could have been extremely difficult finding the time to train another person. Being able to interview the applicants and see some of their work beforehand was a great help.  

Running a successful business between just two of you is impressive, did you find taking on an intern to be a lot of work? 

Having Leah here was no extra work at all, and she relieved us of a lot of day-to-day tasks and challenges. Leah is a talented designer who was eager to learn, with a keen and precise eye for detail, which is how we both work, and feel plays a massive part in our success in this industry. Leah was not scared to take on any challenge within the business and the three of us formed a great team. We were sad to see her go.  

And finally, would you recommend Skills for Growth to other businesses? 

We would definitely recommend Skills for Growth to other businesses. It gives you the opportunity to find the right person for your business, so both business and intern get the most out of the placement. We can definitely see us taking on more interns in the future. 

Skills for Growth is a free scheme that connects small and medium-sized businesses with the region’s top talent by linking them to local schools, colleges and universities. We can help your business find your next intern, apprentice, graduate recruit and much more. To get involved, visit our Skills for Growth page.

To find out more about Studio Print Press visit: studioprintpress-Screenprinters, Embroidery, Graphic Design-Keighley-UK