'I had more to learn - and I knew that DMU was the place'

A graduate who launched her own hat design business with the help of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) grew it further and studied for her master’s, thanks to the Vice-Chancellor’s 2020 Scholarship. 

The Vice-Chancellor’s 2020 Scholarship offers a tuition fee discount of up to 50 per cent on selected full-time and part-time postgraduate courses. Based on academic achievement and merit, it is automatically applied to all home and EU graduates who achieve a 2:1 or higher and who are graduating or have graduated within the past two years. Individual faculties may also set their own eligibility criteria, terms and conditions.

Zoya Hall gained a first in her Design Crafts BA and was confident she had the skills needed to run her business, Zoya Hall Millinery. She even had the funds - towards the end of her undergraduate degree, she was awarded a cash bursary through the university’s Enterprise Inc. initiative to set up the business.
But she found she had a skills gap when it came to marketing and branding - and she knew the best way to quickly learn those skills would be to find the right course. Zoya was able to talk to the Design Management and Entrepreneurship course leader at DMU, to discuss how she could best learn to build her company, including options for postgraduate study.

Zoya said: “I had more to learn and I knew that DMU was the place I wanted to study – not only because the Design Management and Entrepreneurship course was perfect for me but also because I knew I would be working with an exciting group of people.

“As a mature student with a family, the potential cost was a big concern. Thankfully, because I got a first, I qualified for the Vice-Chancellor’s 2020 Scholarship. I tried to be more strategic and not just focus on the millinery business. I was able to focus on the craftsmanship and business aspects.”

A visit to global giant Caterpillar, arranged by one of her tutors, gave Zoya insight into all elements of a branding strategy and how it can shape a business. “People might say there is not a lot of common ground, but branding is branding,” she said.