Enterprising students bank guest speaker from the Bank of England
Bank of England Deputy Agent for Wales Ian Derrick and Bwydydd Madryn founder Geraint Hughes were the keynote speakers as Business learners organised Coleg Menai’s annual enterprise conference
The Bank of England’s Deputy Agent for Wales Ian Derrick was the headline speaker at a conference hosted by Coleg Menai business students.
Also speaking at the event was Geraint Hughes, founder of Bwydydd Madryn, whose products include Jones o Gymru crisps, Calon Lân condiments and Blodyn Aur rapeseed oil.
The enterprise conference was organised by Level 3 Business Studies learners and was held at the college’s new Bangor campus. It is an annual event, featuring different speakers from the world of business and finance each year and attended by students from a range of courses.
Following an opening address by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai CEO Aled Jones-Griffith, the first keynote speaker was food entrepreneur Mr Hughes.
He spoke to learners about setting up Bwydydd Madryn and his Lafan business consultancy, the importance of learning from failures, and his passion for retaining the Welsh identity of his businesses.
In an engaging session, he then opened the floor to questions from the students, and gave advice on setting up their own businesses in the future.
Ian Derrick then gave learners a highly informative insight into the Bank of England - including its history, its role in the economy and potential careers with the organisation.
He described his own career journey, answered questions from learners and gave invaluable advice on careers in finance, as well as awarding a prize for the best question from students.
This was won by Rhys Jones, a first-year Level 3 Business learner, who asked how the potential implementation of trade tariffs by the USA would affect UK growth.
After the event, Mr Derrick said: “I always enjoy speaking to students because they usually ask the best questions. Sometimes the questions can be quite simple questions but they get to the core of what I’m talking about, and sometimes I find they can be the hardest to answer.
“There was a real range of questions from ‘How do we control inflation?’ and ‘How do interest rate changes affect the economy?’ to ‘How will US tariffs potentially affect the UK economy?’.
“The questions showed they’ve already got a good understanding, and hopefully today will have helped develop that.
“Myself and the Bank of England are very keen to encourage young people to take an interest in finance and the economy because it affects their daily lives in a big way. Hopefully if we have even one student from here joining the Bank of England in the future, then that would be fantastic.”
Asked for his advice to young people interested in a career in finance, Mr Derrick said: “Whatever career you’re interested in, I think businesses and employers these days are as much interested in the individuals’ characteristics and their personal qualities.
“So my advice would be not to become too stressed about exams. Obviously the more successful you can be in your exams, the more opportunities are opened up - but don’t be disheartened if it doesn’t go quite the way you hoped.
“At the Bank of England we take people on at all levels from school leavers to graduates, so there are lots of opportunities.
“Also, whatever you want to do, try to be confident and inquisitive.”
Freya Hucks, from Holyhead, was one of six students who organised the conference, along with Sion Griffiths, Rhys Jones, Thomas Jones, Cody Owen and Finley Strickland-Hewson.
They were involved in every aspect of co-ordinating the event, from inviting the speakers and planning the itinerary, through to arranging refreshments and promoting the conference to potential delegates.
Freya said: “We divided the roles between ourselves based on what was best suited to us and what we enjoy doing.
“It went well - we had more people attending than we expected. We enjoyed it, especially being able to listen to the speakers after organising it all. It was a good educational experience for everyone who attended.”
This event was attended by learners from the Business Studies and Travel and Tourism courses at Coleg Menai and Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor.
Do you want to succeed in business? Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s Level 3 Business Studies course prepares you for a career in a variety of areas - including management, finance, law, retail and human resources. It also allows you to gain multiple qualifications and learn how to start your own business. To find out more, click here