Francesc Hostench-Feu elected as new president of Intergraf

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Intergraf members have elected Francesc Hostench-Feu, President of Gremi, the Catalan Printing Association in Spain, as the new president of Intergraf at their General Assembly, 5th June in Barcelona.

Mr Hostench-Feu, upon receiving the Intergraf presidential seal, spoke of the “honour” of being tasked with leading the association and of his belief in cooperation at European level. He also gave special thanks to his predecessor, Håvard Grjotheim and admitted that Mr Grjotheim’s presidency would be, “difficult to follow”.

Håvard Grjotheim (pictured left), from NHO Grafisk, Norway had been president for the past six years.

His presidency coincided with a tumultuous time for the European printing industry. The economic crisis of 2008 had a big impact on the industry and he provided much needed security and positivity in his leadership.

Intergraf renegotiated its fees to help national federations remain with the association and stick together in a difficult time, thus ensuring that Intergraf was planning for a long term, Europe-wide collaborative future.

During his tenure, Intergraf participated in EU projects to help printing companies manage the future and deal with the structural and wider economic changes the industry faced. But while dealing with their problems, they were also encouraged to seek positive opportunities and change for the better.

Recognising that print and digital communication are complementary, he helped reshape Intergraf’s remit to include the digital world. Under his supervision Intergraf’s subtitle was changed to European Federation of Print and Digital Communication from its previous, International Confederation of Print and Allied Industries.

Mr Hostench-Feu said: “I would like to thank Mr Grjotheim for his many years of service. It is essential to the industry that we continue to cooperate and collaborate across national borders within Intergraf. The nature of human communication has changed dramatically in the past decade and will continue to change. Print must change along with it. Together, we can ensure a vibrant future for our industry.”

Intergraf would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Grjotheim for his many years of leadership and look forward to the presidency of Mr Hostench-Feu.