University of Northampton students take a bite of the Big Apple!

​​​Students from the University of Northampton were able to take part in the trip of a lifetime to visit successful businesses in one of the most dynamic cities in the world – New York.

The 30 students from Northampton Business School spent two days visiting businesses across the city to get an insight into how they are run as part of a study tour.

The students were split in to two groups with the Fashion Marketing students visiting a range of fashion retailers, including legendary department store, Century 21, renowned hat designer, Patricia Underwood and luxury apparel and accessories brand, The Row. The Marketing, Advertising and Business Entrepreneurship students were also privileged to receive industry talks from an array of successful businesses across the marketing, tourism and financial sectors, including a fantastic insight from NYC & Company, New York’s official marketing and tourism organisation, a tour of the world-famous Madison Square Garden event venue, and a valuable overview of media planning from global media network, Carat.

In addition to the valuable study tours which enabled the students to gain a real understanding of the working across several industries, the trip also included time for sight-seeing, shopping and strolls around the beautiful snow-covered Central Park. A highlight for many was the basketball match between the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat, which was organised by second year Business Entrepreneurship student Hannah Fox.

Fashion Marketing student, Ellen Egan, found the company visits gave her a great insight into industry. She said: “Everyone was really welcoming and they gave good advice about choosing career paths. This has got me actively thinking about a placement year and what sectors I might explore.”

Charles Gitau, who is studying Business Entrepreneurship, said:  “It was great to receive real-life narration from real entrepreneurs.  They gave us good business tips and provided motivational talks.”

Ria Jain, who is studying for Marketing and Events Joint Honours, said: “The speakers told us about many opportunities for internships in USA.  I would recommend this trip to others as it provides you with a great insight into different businesses and is a good opportunity to build your networks.”

Sally Laurie, Course Leader for Fashion Marketing, commented: “Getting to New York was certainly eventful this year, but feedback has confirmed that all of the students had a fantastic week, with the experience really bringing the knowledge they have gained from lectures to life.”

Kate Pascoe, Course Leader for BA Business Entrepreneurship, said: “We were very privileged this year to have such a fantastic student group with us. They consistently asked insightful questions to all the businesses we visited and showed enthusiasm and interest in the variety of job roles of the New York professionals. They were a great group who certainly made the most of all things NYC!”

To see photos of the students experiencing what the Big Apple has to offer follow #NY2016 on Twitter.