Home > News & Events > Blog
Level 4 Course Director Tony Morgan, recently visited Buenos Aires and took part in the Retail Innovation seminar. Tony also guest lectured on a 2 day short course in Visual Merchandising whilst in Argentina.
Retail Innovation Seminar, Buenos Aires
Former FRA Student to Carry Olympic Torch
The FRA is delighted to hear that former Level 3 student Chi-Mun Wong has been selected to carry the Olympic Torch through Rochester. Chi-Mun was nominated by her mother, after she overcame a serious illness and went on to pursue her dream of studying Fashion at the Fashion Retail Academy and UCA Rochester.
Chi-Mun commented, “I'm really excited about taking part in the Olympic torch relay because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
Read the full article online at This is Kent here
The FRA is pleased to support the Specsavers everywoman in Retail Awards.
“The Specsavers everywoman in Retail Awards seek to identify the dynamic female talent working at the top of the retail industry and showcase the broad range of career opportunities that retail can offer women, beyond the shop floor. These awards are vital in presenting the industry as one that welcomes, values and rewards talented women, and present it as an industry sector where women can fulfil their career aspirations” (everywoman.com)
The prestigious Awards Ceremony takes place at The Savoy Hotel on Thursday 13 September 2012.
Please find full details of the everywoman in Retail Awards here
The Fashion Retail Academy was pleased to welcome Simon Taylor Head of Visual Merchandising and Anna Roberts, Online Sales and Content Manager from Next. Both Anna and Simon talked about their routes into the world of retail, with Anna originally working in fashion journalism and Simon working his way up through various in-store roles with Next. Anna stated that Next is currently the biggest online fashion retailer in the country and they are responsible for 48 international websites. Next manage to stay ahead of the trend and attract visitors to their website by being commercially aware and checking competitor’s websites.
Simon stated for a role in Retail and Visual Merchandising students need to be “industry aware” and ultimately “know their customer”. The VM team at Next works very closely with the Buying and Merchandising team, as both departments need to know about products and what is ultimately going to sell.
A big Thankyou to both Simon and Anna for providing an inspiration Masterclass for FRA students.