St Austell Brewery’s director of external relationships, Piers Thompson, meets students from Falmouth University in the brewery’s visitor centre
Falmouth University students have been challenged by St Austell Brewery to create an innovative piece of pub furniture or the latest essential piece of bar equipment.
The gauntlet has been thrown down to the third year sustainable product design students as part of the company’s Quality Speaks for Itself campaign, in support of its flagship beer, Tribute Cornish Pale Ale.
Working closely with the university’s head of sustainable product design, Drummond Masterton, a creative brief was put together to inspire the students to come up with an original idea for a piece of furniture or a bar item that might be used by customers enjoying a pint of Tribute at their local.
St Austell’s marketing and communications director, Jeremy Mitchell, said: “Our business is constantly evolving and reacting to changes within the industry to stay ahead of the game, and while it is difficult to predict the next big thing, we know it will spring from creative minds such as those at Falmouth University.
“Working with these talented individuals on sustainable design means we get fresh ideas about how we can shape the future of our business with a real focus on quality and, at the same time, hopefully give these students something extra special in their portfolio to show prospective employees.”
Launched in September, the project will form part of the students’ final year studies at the university and the designs will be judged by a professional team from the brewery and the university against a number of criteria, including innovation, aesthetics, design, craft work and materials, to decide which item most closely fits the bill of creating an enhanced quality customer experience.
As well as enjoying the prestige of being project winner, the successful design will be showcased at next year’s Royal Cornwall Show and also earn the creator a £1,000 prize, put up by St Austell Brewery.
Drummond Masterton said: “Linking academia to business in this way is an excellent way of preparing our students for the reality of the workplace they will be looking to enter when they finish their studies.
“Real life applications to their theory and practice are invaluable, and we’re delighted to be teaming up with St Austell Brewery on what we hope will be the first of many such projects to showcase the skills and talents of our students.”
