Fashionable choice of masters

by Agnes Stevenson© The Herald
Originally published: 21.07.2006






RETAILER George Davies has launched a unique partnership with Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The man who brought Next to the high street in the 1980s, introduced George to Asda in the 1990s, and provided a major component of Marks & Spencer's return to form y unveiling the Per Una label five years ago, opened the George Davies Centre for Retail Excellence at the university.

The centre is dedicated to achieving the best standards in the retail industry by equipping students with the skills they need to take their careers to the highest level. This autumn the first students on the MSc in international fashion marketing course will complete their masters degrees.

During the summer they are occupied on placements in the industry or have returned to the workplace which sponsored them to prepare their final dissertations.

When they graduate, they will have a unique understanding of the industry, not just in the UK, but around the world.

Davies himself has driven the project, urging the academic world to underpin his commitment to excellence. "The MSc in international fashion marketing is unique in that it combines real life retailing with an academic course for young professionals who want to develop their careers in the industry, " he says.

"This is an investment in the future of retailing in this country and a means of developing new talent and expertise to meet the challenges of a competitive global economy."

During the 12-month course, students are exposed to all aspects of retailing, from design through to the shop floor. Throughout the first term, the focus is on the strategic components of the industry, including market trends, customer behaviour and the development of a brand.

The operational aspects of retailing, including buying, merchandising and logistics, are covered in term two, while the management of teams is tackled in term three.

"The students on the course come from all over the UK. Some have already worked in the industry while others come straight from university, " says Alison Fitch of Heriot-Watt. "What we want now, in the second year, is to encourage more Scottish students to enrol and see what the MSc in international fashion marketing can do for their careers."

The breadth and depth of the course and the strength of the joint Heriot-WattGeorge Davies alliance are all factors which have established this MSc as a leading qualification in the sector.

The fact is that retailing impacts on all our lives. Everyone shops and the industry is a major employer, not just in Britain, but around the world. It takes exceptional skills to respond to the demands of today's fast-changing businesses and the Heriot-Watt course has been designed to develop new talent to meet these challenges.

It aims to give students a critical understanding of the main themes and concepts of marketing and a critical awareness of the financial and organisational tools needed to support decisionmaking. Emphasis is placed on developing analytical and problem-solving skills as well as an awareness of contemporary fashion trends.

In-company projects and master classes from academics and retailers, including George Davies, make up part of the course, giving students access to the movers and shakers who control one of the most powerful business sectors in Britain.

In total, students have to complete 10 modules and produce a dissertation of 12,000-15,000 words before achieving an MSc.

Professor John Archer, principal of Heriot-Watt, says: "This course is a very exciting development and it offers a tremendous opportunity for bright, ambitious, entrepreneurial people to develop a real understanding of business and of the retail fashion industry. Students who attain the MSc in international fashion marketing will be a valuable asset to the world of retailing."

Professor of retail marketing, John Fernie, says he is delighted to be working with George Davies and his team: "I have developed numerous courses but nothing as exciting as this joint venture. To have a retail visionary of such stature offering classes and working with staff makes this programme distinctive."

Course comments MSc in International Fashion Marketing, The George Davies Centre for Retail Excellence, School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS Entry requirements: Good second class Honours degree, or equivalent, in a relevant subject. Course: Runs from OctoberSeptember. Students must complete 10 modules plus a dissertation.
Telephone 0131 451 3284 or e-mail george@hw. ac. uk

Global influence JOANNA Davey, 28, had been working as a merchandiser with Per Una since leaving university when she took up the offer to go on the one-year MSc in international fashion marketing at Heriot-Watt University. "I had always been interested in completing a Masters and here was the chance to do it through work, so I jumped at it, " says Joanna. She joined the Heriot Watt campus last October and found that while half the students had experience of working in retail, the rest had come straight from university. "This mix worked well because those who had been in the workplace could bring our knowledge of how the retail industry operated, while those who had come from university reminded us how to write essays. It was collaborative. "I understood what I had to do as a merchandiser, but the course has given me an insight into everything that happens in the entire process, from design, through manufacture and delivery to getting the product on the rails. Now when I set a deadline for a new product, I know what issues that raises for other departments. "The international side of the course has been particularly important to me, as I am working with manufacturers in India and have to spend a lot of time in that country. "Colleagues have said that I am now working differently than I was before I began the masters, so all the hard work has been worthwhile."