Well-known local businessman inspires future marketers online during lockdown.

Despite lockdown conditions, the University of Chester’s Marketing students are continuing to benefit from the expertise of prestigious external marketers whose engagement and input have been a valuable element of the course for some years.

For students taking the Chartered Institute of Marketing-accredited degree, having professional marketers regularly sharing practical challenges and experiences, and bringing theory to life, adds enormous value to learning.

Students have heard from many marketing professionals this year in face-to-face sessions at the Business School. The advent of lockdown did nothing to slow the pace: the latest speaker, former agency owner and business mentor Hems de Winter, successfully delivered a live guest lecture via Microsoft Teams to a group of 20 students recently.

Business consultant and TedX speaker, Hems was the founder and MD of multi award-winning de Winter Marketing for nearly thirty years before deciding to open a new chapter and share his knowledge with SME owners and senior managers.

Julie Marshall, Senior Lecturer in Marketing said: “We were not going to let the lockdown challenges stop our students from listening to such an inspirational speaker as Hems. A prominent figure in the local business community, Hems has supported University students for several years across the Venture Programme and mentors a number of Marketing students.

"This is the third year he has shared wise words in guest lectures focusing on the challenges of being future Marketing Managers with a sound moral compass. We have all had to navigate new remote live delivery skills and were so pleased and grateful that Hems was fully on board in meeting our current budding marketers.”

During the session, Hems shared his candid personal and professional thoughts on how to be a socially responsible marketer and how values and integrity go hand-in-hand with sustainable financial success.

“I usually love the buzz of being amongst the people I work with and talk to, and I was a bit concerned whether this remote talk - my first ever! - would lose some of its impact, but I needn’t have worried,” said Hems. “Julie provided all the support and encouragement I needed and the level of engagement and feedback from the students was extraordinary.”

Jane Martin, Programme Leader for the Marketing Management degree added: “Being online did not stop the questions! In fact, so inspired were the tutors and students that we ended up continuing a live chat with Hems well after the session ended!”

Final year student Brittany Peacock enjoyed the session: “Hems came across as an extremely positive and engaging speaker. That really resonated with me as I feel positivity can help us in so many situations in our working lives. His repetition of the fact that happiness comes from within and not what you get, really inspired me to not solely focus on monetary benefits of working. I also liked that he encouraged us to consider our own personal values and ethics when heading into the marketing workplace to ensure that we add value to those around us and within the business.

“I’m so thankful that the tutors were able to put this session on remotely and I still was able to feel his energy through video and his conviction was fantastic in this.  I have now privately contacted Hems and asked whether he would be happy to be my mentor, which he accepted enthusiastically and I am looking forward to him giving me even further advice and encouragement in the future.”

Beth Morris, Programme Leader of the Digital Marketing degree added: “It was a great opportunity for our first year Marketing students to engage with Hems. He is such an inspirational figure whose input will certainly shape their own aspirations. It was great for them to be able to share this experience with our final year students whose contributions were insightful and equally as inspiring. Hearing from students who are about to finish their degrees to embark on new adventures has given our first years a glimpse at the exciting journey that lies ahead for them. We look forward to planning more of these sessions.”​

Pictured - Former agency owner and business mentor Hems de Winter