The British School of Leather Technology has seen a number of staff changes in the last few months. Karl Flowers left at the end of March having spent four years at the school. Flowers had made a big contribution to reorganising the tannery and also visiting the fairs at Meet in Africa and Tanning Tech. Additionally he had accompanied the students on their annual visits to TFL on several occasions.
That vacancy is to be filled by Paul Evans who will start at the school at the beginning of August. Evans has wide experience, having worked in several UK tanneries and also acting as a consultant for tanneries in other parts of the world. He brings a wealth of experience of finishing techniques.
Connie Reid left in early June. She had been at the university for 32 years and had spent a large part of this as secretary to the school. For many students she was their first point of contact when they started the application process.
Paul Richardson is retiring at the end of August. Richardson joined the school (then the National Leathersellers Centre) in 1983 as a lecturer in analytical chemistry. He came from the food industry but had previously been involved in the analysis of just about everything from radioactive effluent to medicines. Over the years he worked his way up to senior lecturer and became course leader for the BSc course when it was introduced to replace the HND. Two years ago he was appointed as the subject leader for the new division of leather technology when it became part of the School of Applied Sciences. He has particularly enjoyed meeting students from all over the world and making so many friends in the leather industry.