Our Alumnus of the Month for July is Craig Wick, Managing Director at the Leicester based Edge Retail Ltd. Graduating with a BSc in Industrial Design in 1997, he went on to work for several design companies before establishing Edge with his business partner and fellow alumni Graham Quirke. They specialise in one off promotional installations, but also provide mass produced displays for a wide range of business around the UK.
In the 13 years since the company has grown to 38 employees and an annual turnover of over £6-million. With offices and workshops based in Leicester, they continue to source much of the raw material for their projects from local suppliers. Continuing to work with graduate talent from De Montfort University, they currently employ ten alumni in a variety of design roles throughout the company.
DMU Alumni at Edge Retail
Working in partnership with a Norfolk firm, GB Replicas, they recently undertook a major project to design and build a replica Spitfire to display in Heathrow Terminal 2. The installation was commissioned by IWC Watches, who are sponsoring the real Silver Spitfire in its flight around the globe to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The model Spitfire on display in Heathrow Terminal 2
Speaking about his time at De Montfort, Craig said: 'I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying Industrial Design at DMU, I particularly appreciated the opportunity to do a placement year and gain valuable working experience in the industry. Leicester is a fantastic city and my experiences encouraged me to stay here after graduating. I've been back to campus for several visits in the years since and it's great to see the work of current students at exhibits and degree shows.'
Posted on Monday 12 August 2019