Bringing Back Alumni

Fran Shollo: Lecturer in Business, Department of Management, Chester Business School:

“I am a proud University of Chester alumni, and Lecturer running a level 4 module in Entrepreneurship. This module requires students to introduce a business idea along with the guide and mentorship of entrepreneur guest speakers. Last year, we broke the record at Chester Business School with 22 entrepreneurs willing to share their journey with our young entrepreneurs. This year, I decided to reach out to our wonderful Development and Alumni Relations Office to collaborate in bringing back our alumni's who have gone onto the entrepreneurship path. The reason why having alumni taking part on this project is simple, the current students can easily see what their potential entrepreneurial future might look like and get inspired by people who have received the same education only a few years back in time. At Chester Business School we highly encourage entrepreneurship and help our students to become the next citizens of the world. The project is called 'Bringing Back Alumni' from an entrepreneurship perspective. As I like to say, 'Docendo, Discimus' - by teaching, we learn...''

Our incredible alumni have all volunteered their time, choosing to give back to the university by helping current students through sharing their experiences. Below you can read more about some of the alumni taking part in this project.

Jonathon Roberts

Jonathon completed his degree in Business Management and Marketing Management in 2021. During his time at the University of Chester, he got involved in many opportunities, including The Venture Programme to help him develop business skills in support of both his degree and his marketing capabilities. He also was the Digital Marketing Lead for Outside the Box Business Society during his time at university, which involved updating the website as well as planning the social media posts to increase exposure of events taking place.

He has been involved with a number of projects through the University that help to support local businesses with their digital marketing, including Sport Session Planner, EDGE Travel Worldwide and Your People Are Your Power. Upon finishing his degree, he got a job at Clicky Media as SEO and Web Assistant, which involved helping the team with search engine optimisation (SEO) for clients, as well as assisting with adding content to new websites about to go live. In July 2021, Jonathon joined the team at Engage Web, a digital marketing agency based in Ellesmere Port. In his role as Digital Marketing Executive, he focuses on helping clients to grow their websites through SEO, as well as assisting clients with web support and amends.

Michael Williams

Michael was a student at the University of Chester, studying Business Management and Entrepreneurship. While there, he founded A.M. Custom Clothing with another student and, after graduating in 2014, continued to build the business.  A.M. Custom Clothing focuses on providing sustainable and ethical clothing to other businesses for use as workwear, retail products, or in promotions.   Michael's company now employs a team of people and sells to some of the biggest brands both here in the UK and right around the world. 

Louis Hill

Louis graduated from the University of Chester with a combined degree in Geography & History in the early 1990’s and returned to London to pursue a career in PR. He began work as an intern in one of the UK’s leading agencies which was part of the global WPP advertising agency network. He quickly progressed to work at Cohn & Wolfe, again one of the world’s leading PR agencies where he gained experience with clients including Visa International, Barclays Bank, Pedigree Petfoods and Reebok.

On leaving Cohn & Wolfe, Louis was the first external PR specialist appointed by Marks & Spencer to help manage the media during a turbulent time of change for the business. Louis returned to Chester as part of the team charged with migrating M&S Charge Card customers to a new loyalty credit card. Having completed the project, Louis was appointed head of UK communications at Kellogg’s In 2008, Louis decided to step away from the corporate world and set up Source PR to deliver PR support to SMEs across the Northwest. 

The business has won numerous awards for its communication campaigns and has now grown its offer to provide clients with a broader range of services including social media management other digital marketing services. Source PR is now one of the region’s leading PR & digital agencies supporting a range of organisations across the UK with their PR, social media management and digital communications.

James Roberts 

Alumnus James Roberts graduated in 2013 with a PGCert in Sociology of Sport and Exercise. He is the founder and CEO of James Owen Roberts Coaching, a Success and Performance Coach and creator of The AIM System, TEDx speaker and author with over 15 years of experience in exercise, diet and mindset as a coach.

He is also the host of host of The Mindset Athlete Podcast, a bi-weekly show interviewing guests from the world of fitness, nutrition, psychology and sport. He has interviewed Ben Coomber, Professor Greg Whyte, Paralympic athletes from Canada and the USA and many more. James competed for Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in adaptive rowing. He also competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, in sitting volleyball.

Lina Tejoprayitno and Daniel Barnes

Alumni Lina Tejoprayitno and Daniel Barnes met during their MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme at the University of Chester, Dan with a specialism in eyecare and Lina with a specialism in finance. Together they founded Pop Specs, a business which aims to change the way people buy prescription glasses.

Pop Specs now have five kiosks, the original two in the Trafford Centre and Arndale Centre in Manchester. They have then recently opened in Westfield Stratford City, Westfield Shepard Bush in London as well as in the brand-new Chester market. Pop Specs continues to grow rapidly, and they have many more openings planned for 2023.

Jennifer Hodgson

Born and raised in Chester, Jen is 34 years young and PR professional with over 10 years of experience in the industry. Having started her career as an intern at The Can Group; one of the leading PR & talent agencies in the UK. After completing her degree (on the third attempt - long story!) Jennifer then went on to work alongside a number of brands including Cosmopolitan, Sophia Webster and Chlobo Jewellery before establishing MODA PR in 2020. 

 As Director at MODA PR, Jennifer is reshaping the industry by delivering an up close and personal PR experience, focused on developing and maintaining strong brand identities for her clients. Jennifer is also now a visiting lecturer at the University of Chester and often returns to pay forward her knowledge to the next generation of communications professionals.

Gaby Mendes

Gaby Mendes is the founder of Talk Twenties, an award-winning education platform for twenty-somethings that helps you figure out all the stuff that you were never taught in school about adult life. Think Money Saving Expert, but with life skills! With the cost of living going up and the value of each hard-earned pound going down, it's harder than ever to be a twenty-something stepping out into the big wide world of adult life right now.  

But Talk Twenties is on a mission to change all that. With over 30,000 listeners, the Talk Twenties Podcast was initially how the business grew, being nominated for a British Podcast Award just a year after launching. The business has further supported the community through online resources, workshops and launched its first in person event last autumn in Liverpool. Prior to becoming a full-time business owner Gaby worked as a secondary school teacher obtaining her PGCE qualification at the University of Chester.