A graduate in chemical engineering, Paul was working in the paper industry until he was made redundant. His aunt found an advert for a chemical engineer at a tannery and he was ‘seduced ‘ into working in research and development in the leather industry. He knew nothing about the leather industry and his first impression was that it looked interesting. He was amazed at the complexity of the processes and range of sciences, chemistry, biochemistry, biology and physics, involved. He was also taken by the variation in the raw materials which very similar to the wood used in paper manufacture.

Having spent 35 years in leather manufacture in all aspects of production with line, technical and applied research management together with technical sales marketing experience, he is now senior lecturer at the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies at The University of Northampton. He teaches leather technology to second and third year undergraduate students. For Paul, this is an easy job and the stresses are self-imposed. The main pressure comes from his desire to deliver knowledge to the students correctly. This is a huge responsibility as it will form the basis of the students’ technical knowledge throughout their working lives and so must be correct and up to date. The challenge is to stay ahead of the developments. However, Paul enjoys the challenge, which he says ‘Keeps me alive!’.

Paul believes that for a qualified leather technologist, the world is your oyster. As a career, the industry needs to be considered as a whole, including shoe and leather goods, upholstery, sales and purchasing, marketing as well as leather manufacture, providing a huge range of opportunity. The Institute has an International cohort of students and is placing graduates in jobs all over the world. As Paul says, ‘There is an international market for your skills’.