An Evening with Trevor Williams
At the beginning of March a group of BTEC National Diploma in Business Studies students from Croydon Sixth Form College (forms part of Croydon College) went to the Croydon Park Hotel to hear one of the country’s leading economists speak.
Trevor Williams, Chief Economist at Lloyds TSB plc talked about the present position of the UK economy and how it has been affected by international affairs in America, Iraq and Japan. He also spoke about the current credit crunch that the UK is facing and where he expects the economy to be in the next few months. The lecture ended with a question and answer session followed by a meal, which was an excellent opportunity for the College’s students to speak to Trevor.
The students who attended were very grateful and received a significant amount of learning that enriched their academic studies.
Zain Baig said: ‘I have always been fascinated by people who have achieved the best in life and have become an inspiration to others. This was a fantastic opportunity to meet Trevor Williams. I told him I would like to study Marketing at university and he said to me “you will become a marketer if you work hard at university.” This gave me more confidence for the future and I have become more ambitious.’
Mohammed Balde added: ‘The trip to the Croydon Park Hotel has helped me to understand about the global economy, particularly about the UK, USA, and Chinese economies. The speech included the recent financial crisis information and other market related problems; this helped me understand the world of business further. The environment was formal and I got to meet new people such as Trevor Williams.’
Another Business student said: Mathan Raj Viveganandan said: ‘Personally speaking, my ambition is to become a financial manager, it was relevant the fact that I attended this event of economic overlook of the financial crisis of the UK. This event developed my understanding of how economical changes can affect businesses as well as countries. The event has inspired me further to achieve my ambition as the environment had investors, economists, accountants and bankers and listening to their views allowed me to learn a different aspect of my local community.’
Curriculum Co-ordinator for Business and IT, Andrew Roberts, explained how students benefit from attending such events: ‘The students really got involved and it gave them an insight into how projections and economic forecasts are linked to not only national but local businesses within the local area. We hope that next year even more Business students will have the opportunity to experience this type of seminar.’
