News Students Lead the Way 12.11.2018

Last week students and teachers from Collyer’s were treated to a once in a life time experience when they took part in the 2018 Leadership Symposium, sponsored by charities Working Options in Education and Grocery Aid.  Top CEO’s, entrepreneurs and leading personalities came together to offer motivational talks and question panels in a high level business symposium held at the Rothamsted Research Centre, Harpenden.

Presenters on the day included: Dave Lewis (CEO of Tesco), Debbie Robinson (MD of Spar), Christine Tacon (Groceries Code Adjudicator);  Kris Gibbon-Walsh (Head of Network of FareShare UK), Andrew Hawes (Founder of Newton), Rob Kelly (Founder – Thrive Programme), Douglas Lamont (CEO of Innocent Drinks) and television personality Piers Morgan (who appeared via a pre-recorded interview). The event was expertly facilitated by Sky News presenters Jeremy Thompson and Anna Botting.

Lucy Hargreaves Employability programme Co-ordinator at Collyer’s, who organised the trip was thrilled: “This kind of access to top-level business people is such a privilege. The kind donation of thousands of pounds worth of tickets for this event made this a wonderful opportunity for our students!

“We work very closely with Working Options in Education, who have run numerous workshops with Collyer’s, and we are incredibly grateful to them for their generosity. They are an amazing organisation.”

The students learnt about the inspiring stories and leadership philosophies of these captains of industry, who also generously took time to chat and offer best advice to students in networking sessions, which took place during breaks between the main presentations.

Director of HE and Progression at Collyer’s, Ian McAlister said: “Huge thanks to Lucy Hargreaves, as without her, this incredible trip would not have been possible. We also owe a massive debt of thanks to the amazing Lauren Monk and the team at Working Options for their superb support of our Employability work here at Collyer’s.”