School News

Skillsmart Awards to BSc Hons Retail, Marketing and

Customer Services Management students

2nd May 2006

From left to right: Katherine Allen, John McGuigan andLouise Dickey.

Skillsmart Retail Awards

The success of students on the BSc (Hons) Retail, Marketing and Customer Services Management degree at Coleraine was recognised recently by Skillsmart Retail when awarding prizes to John McGuiggan, Louise Dickey and Katherine Allen for outstanding performance in their respective year groups during 2004/05.

Tory Kerley, Manager for Northern Ireland for Skillsmart Retail said, “As the Retail Sector Skills Council, Skillsmart Retail is delighted to award these prizes and celebrate the achievements of these top performing students. Retail is the largest and fastest growing private sector in Northern Ireland and it is encouraging to see bright, enthusiastic young people like, John, Louise and Katherine embarking upon careers in the industry.”

John was the best first year student and has just accepted a placement position with Intel starting in June 2006. He was delighted to receive the award and said, “It has been a valuable incentive to perform well in first and second year”. Louise was recognised for her performance during her second year and will graduate from the University in July of this year. This is the second time that Katherine has won the award, collecting a prize for her performance during her second year and again in her final year. Katherine graduated with a first class honours degree from the University of Ulster in June 2005 and is currently working as a Field Executive for Ferrero. Collecting her prize, Katherine said, “In today’s competitive job seekers’ environment it is helpful to be able to make reference to such achievements on my CV and I appreciate the University’s and sponsor’s efforts in making this possible.”

Dr Grainne Byrne, course director, congratulated John, Louise and Katherine and thanked Skillsmart Retail both for continuing to support the retail degree at Coleraine and for recognizing the achievements of our students.