West Cheshire College students win silver at national visual merchandising awards skillVM.

Jul 14 2011 by Katie Bamber, Chester Chronicle

TWO Cheshire students kept their cool to scoop silver in the live final of a national window dressing competition.

Lauren Ellam, 18, of Ellesmere Port, and Hollie Keirl, 20, of Chester, landed a skillVM silver award at the In-Store Show in London’s Olympia.

Lauren and Hollie, who study visual merchandising at West Cheshire College, impressed judges with a full-scale window display incorporating paper birds and flowers.

They completed the creation in only four hours, watched by peers and retail industry insiders.

Hollie said: “We are really happy to be winners – a great end to a fantastic few days. It is amazing to see our design in full-scale.”

“Being part of the competition and building our display in front of other students and professional visual merchandisers has given us both a big confidence boost,” added Lauren.

The award marked the end of a long journey for the girls, who submitted their initial design in March.

Shortlisted teams then built scale models of their windows in heats in May, with the top four teams in each category chosen to attend the final.

Head judge Alan Westcott congratulated Lauren and Hollie on their outstanding teamwork and excellent visual skill.

He said: “All of the finalists should be extremely proud of themselves. Their designs have successfully progressed from their initial sketches to the professional full-scale displays we have seen at the final.

“And at the final they have worked against the clock, which is never easy, and also produced their displays in front of their peers and industry professionals.”Š

Chair of Skillsmart Retail Martin Beaumont added: “Well done to all the finalists, who have shown true potential and talent.Š The standards have been very high and I am sure these people will be shaping how our stores will look in the future.”