A recent visit to deVOL kitchens in Leicestershire was funded by DMU Careers to help undergraduate students find new ways to use their skills in business.
An employability trip to a top Midlands kitchens manufacturer has been inspiring DMU’s Design Crafts students to put their ceramic, metalwork and glass skills to different use.
deVOL, based in Loughborough, specialise in bespoke, handmade kitchen furniture and took time out to show a group of 19 first and second-year students how the skills they learn in their degree can be used in commercial business.
Students were given a tour of deVOL’s showrooms, where they received detailed information on the materials used and how the company designs for individuals, followed by a stop in the R&D department to be shown how initial designs are taken through to models and prototypes.
During a second trip of the day to the company’s ceramics workshops in Shepshed, the group heard from Design Crafts alumna Ellie Barton, Ceramics Manager, about the processes and stages involved in creating deVOL’s handmade ceramics. They were also able to meet current DMU placement student Bella Ridley-Thompson, who demonstrated some of her daily tasks and talked them through her R&D projects.
This trip was funded and organised by DMU Careers as a way for students to expand their experience and understand the possibilities offered through placements and internships.
Kate Shea, Lecturer in Design Crafts, who led the trip, said:
“The trip to deVOL was of real significance as the students work with our partners in industry on ‘live brief’ projects in years two and three of their degree.
“Visiting the showrooms and workshops helped our students see the quality of the workmanship first-hand and experience the company’s aesthetic and production. And, of course, to see how placements and work experience through DMU have resulted in jobs there for several of our alumni in both design and production roles.
“Being able to visit our current placement student Bella was also a real pleasure. We really benefited from her demo and how she showed us some of the more experimental work she has been pursuing while she has been at deVOL, before she re-joins our course in October to complete her degree.”
If you’re a current student at DMU, find out more about industry placements via our careers team.
Learn more about a degree in Design Crafts at DMU.
Posted on Thursday 14 May 2026