Gareth Mitchell

Why Teesside?

I came to Teesside University as it was the only place offering the course that I wanted to study. I didn’t even visit an open day – I travelled straight from my home in Northern Ireland to start studying.

Tell us about your course

The course was very hands on. The best way to describe it is as a real version of The Apprentice TV show – without Sir Alan Sugar. It involved dealing with project briefs, researching markets and creating solutions in the form of products and services. The classroom environment was varied, from lecture theatres and traditional classroom environments to workshops with machinery to help make models.

The degree gave me a fantastic grounding that eventually led to me setting up my own business. The holistic approach on the course to all aspects of commercial projects from research to delivering a product was a great experience. I had a great time with my classmates and made lifelong friends.

Any particular highlights?

I enjoyed the final-year projects because I was able to get stuck into two very interesting subjects. One was to create a student travel card for a regional airline company and one was to represent a cultural heritage group. I loved the course because the skills can be applied to almost any market sector. I used the workshops quite a bit and even made my own point-of-sale unit with vacuum moulded plastic.

And when you weren’t studying?

I spent a lot of time in the Students’ Union and bars and clubs nearby. I joined the Judo club in the first year and visited more of the towns and villages around Middlesbrough in years 2 and 3 as I am a country boy and missed the greenery. I loved Saltburn and Northallerton.

What did you do after uni?

I worked in London in temporary jobs immediately after graduation with the aim of getting into advertising. I worked for Pearson Education before moving to Manchester to work in marketing for an environmental charity.

In 2003 I set up my own unique gifts company, Tree2mydoor that specialises in sending trees and plants for gifts. Business is flourishing and 2018 has been our best year to date. We anticipate the business to continue growing at a high rate over the next 2 years.

My time at Teesside University helped me get closer to my goals – although I didn’t know it until after I set up my own business. I learned lots of lessons that have guided me throughout my journey.