London experience helps ease pressure of life after University for graduating students
Students from GCU’s Fashion, Marketing, Tourism and Events Department recently had the chance to get an insight into their future careers thanks to a London study trip.
A total of 32 Undergraduate and Postgraduate students got involved, travelling by train on the 22nd of May for a jam-packed visit to the UK’s biggest city.
Four visits in four days soon followed to a variety of business and fashion organisations:
- Business Model Workshop – giving students the chance to plan their very own entrepreneurial strategy
- Fashion Factory – opportunity to explore different styles of manufacturing, as well as a factory tour
- Raeburn – chance to learn more about innovative and responsible fashion with renowned designer, Christopher Raeburn
- Mixed Reality Rooms - a platform focused on bringing companies closer to their customers through simple metaverse experiences
Jodie McFadyen and Roisin Quinn, who both recently graduated from the BA (Hons) International Marketing programme, were two of the students involved. We caught up with them to hear more about how the trip benefitted them as recent graduates:
How did the opportunity to take part in the study trip come about?
Jodie: “It was sent out by our Programme Leader Elaine Ritch and she basically gave us a proposed itinerary. It was first come, first served so there was limited spaces as it was open to students across the Fashion, Marketing, Tourism and Events Department.
“We previously had a trip planned in first year to Berlin. Covid led to it being cancelled so I really wanted to get involved – especially before I graduated. I was still a bit unsure about what I wanted to do so I thought it would be good to go along and get an insight into something different.”
Roisin: “I was similar to Jodie in that it was an opportunity you don’t really get very often. I also thought that it might be the last chance to do something like this unless I was to go and do a Masters degree after graduating. I think the department regularly did trips before Covid so it’s nice that we got the chance to experience it before finishing.”
What was involved in the trip?
Roisin: “It covered a range of areas with it being a department trip, but I would say it definitely had a sustainability focus to it. Fashion Enter, who deal with ASOS, River Island and Amazon, are particularly passionate about trying to have more sustainable practices in place across the UK. We met another entrepreneur focused more on marketing with incredible mixed reality rooms. There was also an interactive session with Insider London who gave us an insight into entrepreneurship and what it’s like to start your own business. It was really interesting to hear that most people basically have ten minutes to grab someone’s attention if they’re going to actually invest.
“Our final trip was to Raeburn, who’s a designer focusing on sustainability and how to make products reusable. This really tied in the business and fashion aspects of the trip together.”
You’re both obviously from a marketing background, was it interesting to get an insight into the fashion world?
Roisin: “It was really interesting for me personally. It’s always been an interest of mine and I actually originally applied for the International Fashion Branding course at GCU. The trip overall was probably more tailored to the fashion branding and fashion business students, but I really enjoyed it.”
Jodie: “I liked it because it was a bit more diverse rather than just going purely to entrepreneurs. It’s always good to get a different perspective on things – especially with the sustainability side of it. I’m the same as Roisin where I have a real interest in fashion but decided to go more general and apply for marketing, so it was nice to still have that insight and opportunity to connect with the fashion students.”
Jodie, I know you particularly enjoyed the trip to Raeburn – what was it that stood out for you?
Jodie: “It was very personable because we actually spoke to the designer himself, Christopher Raeburn. He gave us a tour and talked us through his archives - we actually got to try on a lot of the stuff he made in college. He had all his old invitations to his fashion shows over the years and talked us through how he developed his own personal brand. He also reflected on the failures he had in his career and the impact that had on him making different decisions. It was really interesting to hear about that and something you wouldn’t get with other designer brands.”
Fashion was a big part of the trip, but did you also get the opportunity to learn more about marketing?
Roisin: “University is obviously very theory heavy and you hear about what goes on at these different businesses so it was nice to actually walk in and witness how they do everything. There was quite a few mentions of “strategy” over the course of the trip and we learned a lot about that back at GCU. I don’t know if we necessarily learned anything new about marketing, but we did get to see how it fits into a bigger business and experience it in the real world.”
How beneficial has this experience been at this point in your career?
Jodie: “It was refreshing to hear, especially from Raeburn, how things don’t always work out perfectly after university. We’re obviously going onto this next chapter but it’s quite reassuring to know you don’t have to jump into something successful straight away and that there will be periods of time where you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s reassuring to hear – especially from someone so successful.”
Roisin: “I would agree with Jodie. It was nice to hear about the different areas you could go into. With marketing, you can obviously work anywhere but sometimes that’s quite a daunting thought, however this trip showed us that you can apply your passion to anything. I could start something on my own or work for a bigger company - the trip helped me realise the range of different options that are out there and that there isn’t really a wrong path to take once you graduate.”
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter