The top ten NZ apprentices have now been whittled down to six, as the battle to be officially crowned as the 2024 NZ BJ Ball Apprentice of the Year hots up, with just weeks remaining before the official winner is announced at the annual Pride In Print Awards on July 4th at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel.
The 2024 BJ Ball Apprentice of the Year will be announced at PrintNZ's annual 'night of nights' - the Pride In Print Awards on July 4th at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel
“The number at this stage would normally be 5,” admits PrintNZ Chief Executive, Ruth Cobb, “but the judges just couldn’t separate them this year and each of these six can already make claim to being the best apprentice in their particular field of 
Ruth Cobb, PrintNZ Chief Executive expertise.”
The six final candidates are:
- Jessia Moore of Imagine If Creative Studios for Binding and Finishing
- Eligh Arthur of Gravure Packaging for Gravure Printing
- Faamao (Paul) Müller of Wedderburn New Zealand for Labels
- Toese Fauatea of Opal Packaging NZ Cartons for Packaging
- Bradley Smith of Transcontinental NZ for Reelfed Printing
- Tayla Jones of Logan Print for Sheetfed Printing
Bradley Smith says: “There’s something special about producing something tangible that others can see and use. The print industry offers a unique blend of creativity, precision and collaboration, with each day bringing new challenges.”
