How Campbell’s of Beauly boosted efficiency and global reach through a student placement

Campbell's of Beauly is a family run country tailor and outfitters in the Scottish Highlands which has been operating since 1858. A thriving retail business and busy tailoring workshop, our business has grown significantly over the last eight years.

We’ve installed new systems and integrations to ensure the business runs efficiently but we were keen to explore ways to get the most out of our customer relationship management (CRM) system to improve processes, increase productivity and open up the online shop to international trade. That’s why we brought student Bogdan Todorow on board for a 12-week placement, with funding support from the Northern Innovation Hub’s (NIH) Technology Placement Programme.

Technology can save time

We have three platforms to sell products - two physical shops and the website.?We knew there were better ways to extract and manipulate our data to streamline reporting, and we had the opportunity to incorporate the use of our new CRM handheld device to eliminate?the printing and paperwork involved.?

Hosting a student placement afforded us the time and support to consider the opportunities available through digital technology. We gained new insights and a better understanding of how technology can save time and generate new talking points by presenting our data in different formats.

Opportunities for both parties

I would highly recommend the Technology Placement Programme to other businesses and students as both employer and employee can learn from each other.?

The student can step into ‘the work world’ and gain an understanding of teamwork, how a business is run and more generally, the workplace dynamics.

We are committed to nurturing the next generation of talent, and this was our third student placement hire. We’ve seen the doors this can open, especially when taking up a placement with a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Those who’ve taken part in a placement here have had full access to the owner so while they gain insight from the project they are working on, they are also exposed to so much more. They get the opportunity to shadow those working in the organisation, take part in different business conversations and topics, and absorb all they can - the opportunity to ask questions at their leisure is a big advantage.

Technology Placement Programme

The NIH Technology Placement Programme offers organisations of all sizes in the Highland Council area up to 70% funding for a student or graduate placement to help businesses keep up with the pace of technological change and accelerate growth through innovation.

Find out more about the funding available through the Technology Placement Programme here: https://www.hie.co.uk/support/browse-all-support-services/techplacements/

Article by Nicola Sugden , director of Campbell’s of Beauly

NIH’s range of programmes are delivered by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and funded through the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal.