Did you know that we manufacture more than half our garments in the UK? We work closely with many British heritage mills and small family-run businesses, where techniques are handed down through generations for exceptional craftsmanship and quality. We love celebrating our own (as well as others) heritage and we do our upmost to support the British fashion industry, including welcoming aspiring students into our offices to help them along their way.

One such individual has been interning here at Cotswold Collections since 2017. Laura contacted our managing director Jane when she wanted to gain some work experience to complete her Gold Arts Award during her studies at King’s School in Worcester. It was her business teacher Mr Williams that recommend our company and being the driven, motivated individual Laura is, she soon grasped the opportunity.

Since then, Laura has been coming back to Cotswold Collections during any of her free holidays in-between her term times. In fact, Laura has accumulated over two months’ worth of experience from her weeks’ here and there. Laura says “being able to intern while I was doing my A-levels was incredibly beneficial as it reassured me that the choices I was making towards university courses were definitely right. The experience also aided me in receiving an unconditional offer from Nottingham Trent University to study Fashion Management”.
During each of her stints here, Laura has done an array of tasks through working with our managing director Jane and each of our buyers as well as assisting the marketing team in a range of projects “every task I’ve done has been interesting and because I get to work with different people, my average day can really vary, which I love”.

Having Laura in the office brings joy to us all (not just because she treats us to the best home-made brownies in the world) but also because she is a breath of fresh air. Michelle, our knitwear and accessories buyer describes Laura as our ‘office angel – having her around makes everything flow easier. We greatly miss her when she’s not here as she’s become a real part of – and asset to – our team”.

When asked what part of Cotswold Collections she enjoys the most, Laura said “I simply enjoy coming here and gaining experience in all of the departments. Because everyone’s roles are so diverse I’ve been able to do; send packages to suppliers, archive stock and catalogues, understand and aid what goes in/comes back from photo shoots and create mood boards on season inspiration. I’ve also been invited into meetings, something I’ve never experienced before and I really feel like I’m part of the company, valued and included”.

Laura also helped the marketing team in the creation of our brand-new website feature, our garment videos. Our marketing manager Ann said “having Laura there on our shoot-day was incredibly helpful as she was so efficient in the running of the day”.

Other tasks that Laura has undertaken has included working with our technology and garment specialist to ensure garments are of the quality we expect, as well as creating our Pinterest inspiration boards and even writing her own journal (see Laura’s journal here >>).

We are always so exceptionally grateful to have Laura’s help but she says “I’m even more appreciative as Cotswold Collections has given me so many opportunities. Beyond providing me with the experience to gain my place at University, interning here has given me real-world industry knowledge that I’m able to draw on during my theoretical studies in lectures and seminars. And it has encouraged my career development as well as reassure me that this is both the career path and industry that I want to be part of once I graduate. I’ve taken any opportunity I can to be here as I’m welcomed as part of the team and I feel really valued. It’s also helps me get my name out in the industry and gain work experience elsewhere as I’ve developed a grounding of experience”.

“I feel very privileged to be so hands on in a smaller business and working in a close team. I now take any chance I can get to come back and work with Cotswold Collections!”
Would you like to know more about Laura’s internship or anything else here at Cotswold Collections, let us know in the comments below…