Students from the British School of Leather Technology, University of Northampton, received certificates and prizes at the annual prize-giving event recently held at Leathersellers Hall, in London, when it was announced that Paul Richardson will be retiring as head of the school this summer. Prize winners came from a spread of countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, India and China.

European-based students were noticeably absent from the event but this is a trend which has been seen in recent years as world leather production has moved away from the northern hemisphere. Aware of the changing nature of the industry, the university has been busy adjusting its strategy for the future. In the last twelve months it has initiated close relationships with the CLRI in India, the LLTPI in Ethiopia as well as a number of institutes in China.

The Northampton teaching provision looks likely to be a mix of blended learning, distance learning and other arrangements where the early years of the BSLT’s leather courses are taught overseas while the focus at the Northampton campus moves more to the final year and postgraduate work. The opportunity to link the university’s leather school with fashion, podiatry, environmental health and management is now also being exploited.