A buying and merchandising student from West Cheshire College in Ellesmere Port has secured a full-time job in the fashion industry.
Vicky Pattinson, 19, from Chester, has secured a role as a trainee buyer for Altrincham based company Cotton Trader.
Vicky said: “I’ve always wanted to become a buyer in retail. The course at college was great as it gave me all the skills and experience I needed to help me achieve my ambition. I chose college over university as you learn so much more from doing a hands-on vocational course.
“We completed projects where we worked in real-life situations, including going to a supplier in Manchester and buying stock for the college’s retail shop.
“My day-to-day role at Cotton Trader includes inputting data, looking at upcoming fashions and researching products we can buy for next season.”
We then present our research to the company directors and buy products from our suppliers across the world.
“There is a lot of opportunity to travel in the job. Next year I could potentially be going to Bangladesh and Italy which is really exciting.”
Harriet Hill, 19, from Hawarden will be joining Northwich based multi-website retailer, The Hut, as an assistant buyer.
Harriet said: “I’m delighted to have landed a job with The Hut. They have a number of websites including fashion, entertainment and health and beauty. I think I will be working on the fashion side on their handbag website, which will be great as I’ve always been interested in fashion.
“The course has definitely given me the right skills to go straight into employment. University wasn’t for me as I didn’t want to be stuck in a classroom being lectured at, I much preferred the idea of doing hands-on activities.
“Through the course we were given projects which were relevant to real-working situations such as managing stock for the college shop. Being involved in projects like this prepared me for the workplace.”
Jo Williams, fashion and retail tutor at West Cheshire College, said: “I am delighted that Vicky and Harriet have done so well and secured jobs in the industry straight after finishing their course.
“Both students have worked really hard and have shown a lot of enthusiasm and dedication so they really deserve gaining these fantastic jobs.
“Our courses are designed around providing students with the right skills and experience to go straight into the workplace and these achievements prove that our courses do just that.”
