Meet Lucy - Our New Design Apprentice
As we Move towards the end of 2023, I thought it was time to introduce myself after having been here for four months already!
So ‘Hi’, I’m Lucy, I’m a 20 (nearly 21) year-old Interior Design Student at the University of South Wales on my Sandwich Placement Year with Momentum in Cardiff.
A little about me: I’m from a small town in Cheshire called Macclesfield which was famous for its Silk weaving industry and in 1749, the manufacture of silk buttons was the main industry of the town. For those of you 70’s music fans, you may recognise it as the resting place of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis or as the place of origin of the Macc Lads. I’m a big Rugby fan, with my paternal side of the family coming from in and around Sale, so the obvious choice was to support Sale Sharks. I enjoy attending games here in Cardiff when I can, either supporting Cardiff Blues or watching international games.
I made the big move to Cardiff in September of 2021. Cardiff is a City I had never been to before, I found myself drawn to it for reasons I will never know, but it has led me to meet some incredible people already, who I will be forever grateful to. Which therefore leads me to my first four months here at Momentum. Coming into this, I wasn’t sure what to expect having not done anything similar at University and not having any idea as to what a furniture dealer would do, but I’ve already learnt so much about the Furniture Dealer Industry as well as how it works within the Interior Design industry. I’ve been working closely with both Rhian and Meg on a range of projects, some old and some new and they’re helping me develop my skills further. It’s been interesting learning how projects start and the process that Momentum goes through to get them to the stage where they’re ready to place orders and then delivery/installation. It’s also interesting learning about how Momentum works on a day-to-day basis how different roles within the business work together to keep projects moving along, but also how they problem-solve if and when problems arise. Having wondered if taking Business Studies at GCSE level would be useful, it was a good choice. It has been a valuable tool to help me understand how the financial side of the business works when tendering for work or sending out invoices and general quotes to our current client base and prospective clients. Being able to deal with our Clients on a Professional level requires you to understand what the Client wants to achieve and how you can assist them to do this when being guided by their brief. You need to be able to offer alternatives and solutions in order to provide the Client with a bespoke service that also builds trust between the Designer and the Client. Taking accurate notes both from face-to-face contact and phone calls is most important in order to achieve the desired requirement. Being able to prioritise work, plan ahead and meet deadlines is a big part of the job description and this can also be said for University work.
What I hope to take from this, is a wealth of knowledge on what’s available to me in the world of Furniture and Interior Design and to use that to improve, enhance and perfect the projects that I will be working on in my final year of my University Degree. That knowledge and skill set can then be utilised to great effect when I enter the world of work and who knows, with Momentum on projects as an Interior Designer.