Photo from left to right: Valerie Mant (H&SHCA Chairman), Abigail Appleton, Anthea McIntyre MEP

Press Release

Abigail Appleton, the Principal of Hereford College of Arts, was the guest speaker when Hereford Conservative Business Forum met at the Harewood End Inn on the 22nd March.

She and her students were part of a team that took Herefordshire to Brussels for an extremely successful exhibition that showcased all Herefordshire has to offer.

The event was hosted in the European Parliament by Anthea McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, and highlighted a variety of Herefordshire activities and businesses.

Ms Appleton said: “We have raw materials and processes that can lead to innovative products” said Abigail “We showcased the processes and products. The raw materials looked magnificent in the exhibition.

Of the college, she said: “We are rooted in place yet connected to the world. We can operate at locally, nationally and internationally.”

The principal showed examples of 3 D printing and even modern fibres made from milk. She explained that the College of Art was one of the few remaining design institutions, with a focus on bringing together traditional arts and crafts as well as design and technology.

Students were working with new materials as well as traditional and surplus ones, such as fish skin from food factories and the special fibres made from milk - or silk latte, as she called it.

Miss McIntyre MEP, forum chairman, said the Brussels display showed how to create more and better links between creative art and business. It also demonstrated that real life commissions could be undertaken as part of the curriculum.

"She thanked Ms Appleton for making the Brussels showcase an enormous success and for inspiring everyone, proclaiming: "Herefordshire is the place to go to for growing cutting edge materials."