The prospect of a good job and salary led Anne to complete her degree in Leather Technology in her home country of Bangladesh, where the leather sector was growing rapidly. However, she knew  nothing about the industry and, to start with, she wasn’t impressed with it. She was the only woman leather technologist in the tannery in Bangladesh where she started her career  so she made a big impact, although she found her fellow workers to be positive and helpful. She is now proud to be involved in a niche sector which is both individual and unique but says the people that she works with are the main reason she will be staying in the industry.

She came to the UK to complete her MSc and PhD. Before taking on her current role, she carried out research on leather conservation and managed the research programme for BLC Leather Technology Centre. She is now a Lecturer with the Institute Creative Leather Technologies at The University of Northampton, teaching Leather Technology to undergraduates. She found teaching very difficult at first but enjoyed the challenge. She has a lot of interaction with her students and is always engaged with her work.

Anne believes the leather industry is a good industry and offers great scope for growth and development. She started in a tannery and is very proud of how far she has come. As she says, ‘Come on, we need people!’