21 Feb 2025
Sheldon Ringrose from St Albans Tour Guides reveals all about their recent collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire…
Never let it be said that St Albans Tour Guides aren’t willing to learn from others.
What’s more, never let it be said that the University of Hertfordshire isn’t equally ready for a challenge. Because although we are experienced and qualified local guides who know the history and stories of the area, the lecturers of the university’s Business School certainly know how to get the best out of their marketing students.
They faced a big hurdle. They had to treat us as their ‘client’ and come up with ideas to promote the St Albans Tour Guides to a wider audience.
The students, coming from a different age group with a different point of view, came up with some brilliant, workable, innovative suggestions with a special focus on sustainability. And they didn’t just have to impress us. They also needed to satisfy their dedicated team of lecturers. So, quite a challenge.
Therefore, after a period of studying our brief, joining us on guided walks and researching the market, nearly 80 students divided into 17 teams to make their presentations to us, a team from the marketing committee of the Tour Guides, and their teaching staff.
And while we think we move with the times, we had an awful lot to learn, because there were some truly great and innovative ideas.
Some may have been beyond our budget and capabilities – bearing in mind that we are all local volunteers who don’t do this for the money. In fact, any surplus at the end of the year is donated to local good causes. We also want to ensure costs remain low so anyone can afford to join our guided walks.
It was a day when we were shown a warm welcome, kind hospitality and some seriously impressive work. We had some hard choices to make in picking our Top 3, but this was our final decision, in no particular order:
Group 4: Terumi Esmeralda Rodriguez, Nicole Laudadio, Gianluca Magnani, Eva Flora Mazzoncini, Andrea Guizzetti.
Group 8: Dhanura Venusha Perera, Cristabelle Redduck, Grace Swan, Molly Taney, Emily Warren.
Group 14: Lucus Abello, Ahmed Alshurifi, Nicholas Lamek, Ella Skeggs, Riccardo Urbani.
We gained a huge amount from this very enjoyable collaboration. And yes, we plan to put various of the suggestions into practice.
So, to all the marvellous University of Hertfordshire Business School lecturers involved, Dr Ariya Nithikulsak, Urszula Fikowska, Sarah Pascaru, Joanna Kitson and especially the chief facilitator, Dr Derek Ong, principal lecturer and associate head of the marketing department.
Also to Jon Easter, development director of the Business School, who made the initial suggestion to collaborate. And, not forgetting the students who did all the work. Thank you.
