After living and studying in Bournemouth during their degree, many BU graduates choose to stay in the town.
Ceuta Healthcare, based on Richmond Hill in the centre of Bournemouth, is just one of the local companies that benefits from the skills and expertise of BU graduates from a range of courses and disciplines.
“At Ceuta we know that a degree from Bournemouth University will bring us a rounded individual with the structured and creative thinking we need,” said Annette D’Abreo, Managing Director of Ceuta Healthcare, a leading international outsource partner for the health and beauty industry.
“They are prepared for the workplace and bring us freshness and relevance.
“Having studied in Bournemouth it is easy to see why they would want to build a career here. It is a great place to live. Ceuta offers the opportunity to continue to enjoy our environment and be successful.”
Tom Mephram graduated from the BA (Hons) Advertising and Marketing Communications course at BU in 2006.
After briefly returning to his home in West Sussex following his degree, Tom came back to Bournemouth to work as a junior brand manager for Ceuta.
In the eight years since, he has progressed to working on Ceuta’s international accounts – responsible for multinational supermarket clients.
“There were lots of different moments on my course that I think helped prepare me for work,” Tom said.
“I think we benefited on our course from the lecturers – we had some lecturers who obviously were qualified academically but also had some good experience in the practical world of advertising and marketing as well.”
He added that high-profile guest speakers and assignments which emulated industry experiences – such as forming mock advertising agencies and pitching ideas – all contributed to his university experience and employability on graduating.
Tom said: “The course was really good – it was intense, but it was always enjoyable and had lots of positive experiences.
“I’d highly recommend the course and it continues to have an outstanding reputation in the advertising and marketing industries as well.”
Monwara Foley, a Client Manager at Ceuta Healthcare, began working at the company while on placement during her Health Sciences degree at BU.
Monwara, who graduated in 2006, said: “The best thing about the course was that you had to do work experience between the second and third year. That’s how I got into Ceuta Healthcare and began to progress my career.
“If I didn’t have to do that work experience, I don’t think I’d be where I am today – it really just threw us in the deep end.”
Monwara continued to work part-time at Ceuta during the final year of her degree, and was offered a full-time job at the company just three days after completing her final exam.
She started in customer services and soon made the move into marketing, as a junior account manager, using transferable skills and knowledge gained during her degree studies.
“I’ve been in marketing for about nine years now, and I love it - every day is different and challenging and I learn something new every day,” she said.
“I have to look after and manage the brand – everything from promotions in-store to campaigns to drive customers to pick up and buy the product.”
She added: “Science is very factual, very analytical, which is applicable to what I’m doing in business because there is a lot of analysis and seeing how sales perform and what made that happen.”
Monwara said that seeing the university grow and develop, and meeting other highly motivated graduates who also work at Ceuta, made her proud to be part of the BU community.
“I think Bournemouth University is brilliant and I’m proud to see that it’s grown so much,” she said.
“The people I know at Ceuta that come from BU - it’s the passion and the drive they have that make them stand out.”